Aiden arrived to the little village on foot. It was a fairly long trek from Fairweather but he needed some time to think. The torrents of rain that had swept through the region had hit Annadell particularly hard, burying the village perimeter fence under layers of mud. The squat stone buildings seemed to list down in the direction of the hill’s slope. Here and there, some of the bricks began to push out of alignment with the others. Such repairs were easy and affordable, giving rise to the question of why the townspeople hadn’t done something.
He passed the first home and unease settled in his stomach. Multiple gashes streaked along the door and shutters. Here and there, white speckled the weather-worn wood. Using the tip of his carving knife, he pried a piece of loose and examined it. A trapper of many years, he knew the look of bone shards versus claw. Something blunt had made those marks; something that had endurance to push passed the pain of flesh and bone being chipped away. Aiden flicked the shard away and continued passed the ravaged home to the center of the village.
The entire town was perched on a low hill that gave a good view of the lower farmlands where they worked. Backed up against a small but lush forest to the south, the settlement was relatively secluded. The Lord’s manor was barely visible on a clear day, but like all manors, it would be on the highest ground and able to see the entirety of its lands. The well-built timber structure in the middle of the village was the meeting house where the Lord and his retinue resided when visiting his serfs.
Aiden watched as people filed into the wooden building, clutching what looked to be their only worldly possessions. Care was still given to keep that place clean as each person removed the dried mud from their feet and shoes. He passed through the center of town, avoiding the washtubs that lay broken on the ground. Two were overturned with the bottoms punched out and the last rocked in the wind on its side. The well, with exception of the rope and bucket missing, was in good condition. Hoof prints mixed with boot and foot imprints stampeded through the center of town, leading east through the village and directly through part of the fence. He could just see where the wood had splintered under the weight of cattle. Looking about him, Aiden could see no further evidence of the animals.
“Can we help ya, stranger?” A deep man’s voice asked from behind him.
Aiden turned and before he could respond, a small boy standing next to the man asked, “Are you gonna help us mister? Mama said someone would come soon to scare the bad things away, is it you mister?”
“Shush Darrell.” The man put his hand on the boy’s head and pushed him in the direction of the building. “Go see yer Ma.”
“Sorry about that,” The man apologized, “Children don’t know when to stay out of conversations.”
Aiden cleared his throat, “S’alright, I don’t mind the question.”
The man gave him an appraising look. “Why are you here Mister…”
“Alden.” Aiden supplied, putting forth his hand to cover up the lie. Though he couldn’t change what the Abbot knew of his true identity, he’d rather not give the villagers a way of being able to track him down if things went wrong.
“Alright Mr. Alden. I’m Richard,” The man shook his hand in greeting. “But I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave now. Our homes as you can see, are in no condition to host guests.” Richard swept his arm around, a grim line set on his face. “The rain hit us hard. Even our livestock have taken off.”
“I don’t need much,” Aiden interjected quickly. “just a place to sleep tonight. I’ve my own food to draw from and blankets to use.”
The man inhaled and Aiden knew he wanted to refuse. “Please, I’ve no gear for night travels.” He finished.
Richard seemed to think for a long moment, looking over his shoulder at the woman who waited by the entrance to the wooden building. The woman pointed to the sky and waved her hands urgently. “Alright, Mr. Alden, you can stay but you’ll bunk with the rest of us in the Town hall.”
“Just Alden please, I’ve no rank above you good people.” Aiden said as he walked with the man. “And what are the ‘bad things’, that child spoke of?”
“A child’s fantasy.” Richard replied, waving his hand to dismiss the question. “Melanie,” Richard addressed the woman, taking her aside and out of hearing range. As they spoke, her hand gestures showed her agitation. She continued to glance back and forth between Richard and him. When they returned she walked straight past Aiden and into the Town hall.
“Don’t mind her, she’s a little upset about other things right now.” Richard said, leading him into the building as well.
Inside it was as if a refugee camp had been set up. Blanket covered piles of hay and straw big enough to fit a family of four lined the walls. The benches that had been set up to give the people a place to sit while their lord addressed them were stacked ten high next to the door and a few were turned on their end, covering the windows.
A community stewpot was brought in from the outside firepit, the smell of herbs and vegetables tempting on the pallet. Everyone formed a line to receive their dinner but strangely the hall was quiet for the group of thirty. People kept to themselves, adults sitting with their families instead of conversing with other adults. The children, though they squirmed to get up and play, were on a tight leash. Where he walked, Aiden could feel the eyes of the villagers.
“Here you are, Alden.” Richard said, his hands full of straw. “Its all we can spare.”
Aiden took it with a grateful nod of his head. “It’s just fine for me, thank you.” He headed for the dark corner in the back of the town hall that no one had yet claimed. Setting up his bedroll, he took out the dried beef and fresh carrots that he had brought from Fair-weather and ate quietly. What he was to do now was a mystery to him, but he did have a feeling that if he pressed enough, Richard may tell him who these ‘Bad things’ were. The first step was to get them to admit what they knew of what he suspected to be undead. The second would be to figure out just what he and his steel dagger were going to do about it. Never a man for a long heavy sword, Aiden had chosen a set of two daggers and smaller throwing knives. In his days as a trapper, there was no room for clumsiness. If he needed a weapon, it was for close quarter encounters when his traps failed.
The scene in the town hall was one Aiden could have imagined for his own family when the day came that the plague struck the outskirts of Fairweather. It was only a matter of time and now because of his foolishness, they may spend that day alone. Children huddled close to their mothers and he was forced to look away. Any one of these women could be Elena and any one of those children could be his own. He crunched down on another carrot, the vegetable rubbery and tasteless. Disgusted, he wrapped the rest of the carrots back up in their cloth and stowed them in his traveling pack.
“Excuse me.” A woman’s tentative voice broke through the gloom of his thoughts and he turned to face her. Lovely at one time, her face had since become accustomed to the worries that age brings with deep creases along her forehead and the corners of her mouth.
“Yes?” He replied, wondering if perhaps this was his way in.
“You came from Fairweather didn’t you?”
“The road to Fairweather, yes.” He evaded the direct question.
“This may seem silly but did you see a girl traveling that road? She would have been alone and in her own cart with perhaps a donkey. Did you see anything like that?”
Aiden nodded, having seen a young girl trying to take command of an ill-tempered donkey alongside the road. He had asked her if she needed help with the beast but her subsequent glare let him know that his offer was unneeded and unappreciated. He could barely choke back a laugh as the donkey pulled the reins from her hands and set about grazing again.
“You did? By the goddess!” The woman exclaimed. She spun away from him and nearly ran to a man he assumed was her husband. Soon she returned, towing her husband by the sleeve of his shirt.
“Tell him, tell him you saw her.” The woman demanded.
“I did see a woman fighting with what I thought was her donkey not far from here. I don’t recall seeing a cart, but it could have just as easily been in the trees.” Aiden shrugged, unsure what else she wanted to hear.
“And how far was she from here?”
“The roads were in terrible condition and I’m sure it slowed her progress.” he calculated a possible time.
“Yes? How far?” The woman pressed, looking pensive.
“Perhaps 3 maybe 4 hours behind me?” Aiden guessed.
“3 hours..” She repeated, her voice constricted into a whisper. Wordlessly, she looked to her husband who appeared to be deep in thought.
“Nightfall.” Was the only thing he said but his wife began shaking. So close to her, Aiden could see the clay bead bracelets on her hands tremble.
“Bridget, little Bridget. But she would stop, wouldn’t she Gary? She would stop.” She pleaded, pawing at his arm. “I told them not to come here at nightfall. I wrote Mary,” She glanced to Aiden, “her mother, a letter and told them.. I..” Staring back at her husband, her words trailed off.
Taking advantage of the long pause, Aiden asked, “Just what happens at nightfall?”
The woman startled, looking at him as if it were the first time she saw him.
“Nothing.”
“Why do I get the feeling there’s something you people aren’t telling me Gary?” Aiden stood, coming eye level with the man. He kept his stance open and questioning, hoping that he wouldn’t accidentally offend the man.
“That’s because there is something.” An older villager pushed his way passed
“So?’ Aiden said slowly.
“So what?” the old man snapped.
‘So what is it? What is it that keeps you all out of your homes and in this building?”
“Hmpf.” He grunted. “That’s for these shysters to tell you. It’s their fault that no one has come yet to help us.”
“Da please.” Richard’s voice cut through the conversation.
“Don’t you start with me boy!” the old man shouted shrilly, shaking his fist toward where Richard stood. “If it weren’t for your pigheaded laziness, Mattie would still be alive!”
“We sent a report to the church Da! There isn’t much more we can do.”
“That’s a coward talking, not my son. My son is a fine blacksmith! The best the lord Draven has had since I was in his employ! And my son wouldn’t hole his fellows up in a stick building, waiting for the day those things get in here and kill us all.” He finished his lecture with a sneer.
“What do you expect us to do, Da? Take our hoes and rakes and hopelessly attack things that cannot die? That does nothing for us but speed up our own demise.”
“What things?” Aiden asked.
“These people are not warriors Da. They’ve never fought in the wars like your generation did. They live in a time of peace!”
“Peace, hmpf. That’s ending if you can’t see it for yourself!”
“What things!” Aiden exclaimed, putting his voice louder than the father and son shouting match. Both men turned to look at him, startled that anyone would interrupt. Richard’s look slowly changed, anger fading into defeat.
“The monsters that come from the forests.” Richard finally answered him cryptically. “We think they are evil spirits possessing the bodies of our dead relatives.”
Evil spirits? Aiden thought about that, the possibilities opening up. If they were correct, and he had no way of contacting the Abbot to find out, then the most common way to exorcise the spirit was to destroy the body.
“Book twelve, chapter four.” He said out loud, remembering back to the holy book of their goddess. His parents had been highly religious, forcing him to memorize each book down to the page and chapter numbers. He may have hated them then for their blind zeal, but he thanked them now. They may have given him the ideas necessary to stop these undead for good.
“What?”
“The good priest picked up his fallen protector’s spear and smote the possessed corpse from the windy bluff, watching as it struck the jagged rocks and broke into a thousand pieces. From those pieces rose the tortured soul and he called it to him. ‘Thy shall come to me, wretched spirit and I shall cleanse from the taint of the Evil One.’ And then he did cleanse the spirit and sent it joyously on to paradise.” Aiden finished, taking in a long breath and holding it for their reactions.
“Are you a priest?” The woman ventured, looking at him strangely.
“No,” he let out all of his breath at once in a chuckle. No, it took faith to be a priest and he most certainly lacked faith. “I remembered that verse though. Don’t you see? This is how you can defeat them.” That’s right, pervert their faith to make them do what you want. Just like a common thief, oh if Elena could see you now. He thought angrily to himself.
Richard looked confused, glancing between him and his father. “I don’t quite understand.”
The old man heaved a sigh. “Let it go then. Look, young man, my son is a bit better at swinging a hammer than at thinking. You think that these can be stopped by throwing them off cliffs right? Well I hate to break it to you, but there are no cliffs near by.”
“Well maybe not a cliff, maybe just destroying the body in general will work.”
“And then how do we exorcise the spirit?” the old man crossed his arms, thinking he had found a flaw in Aiden’s theory. He was supportive of trying to do something to change the situation, but a plan with holes in it would surely doom them.
“Why bother doing it yourself? Before I left Fairweather I remember everyone talking about what the church was going to do in response to this catastrophe. Mostly people were upset but then there was a public meeting where one of the bishops spoke to us. He said that they had dispatched teams of priests and protectors to hunt down these things. That means all you have to do is wait for them to come exorcise the spirits.” Aiden lied smoothly.
“Well if that’s the case then why don’t we just wait till they get here?” Richard reasoned, forcing him to think quickly. If he left them here thinking help would come and it never did, he would not only be hanged but he would die with their lives on his conscience.
“Who knows how long it will take until they arrive though? Can you sit through another few nights, knowing that those things are outside trying to claw their way through the shutters to your children?” he asked, seeing the desired effect in the faces of the people who had gathered around him. Parents clutched their children tightly, nodding in agreement.
“We must talk on this.” Richard said at last, looking unsure about what to do. “All of the adults who can come, meet me in the upper flat so that we may talk in peace about this. No offense Alden,” he said with a look that pleaded for understanding, “But this is a town matter and we all need to be in agreement.” Several of the men around him had already been filtering up to the second floor and a few wives stayed behind to watch the children.
All Aiden could do was wait.
No comments:
Post a Comment