Smoldering Remains

Light snow was softly falling outside the Wandering Cat Inn. Lena finished adjusting the straps of her armor in preparation for the next mission.

This winter had been the princess’s very first outside the walls of Kustdin. She realized that The Darkness was nothing like the stories she had heard whispered in the palace. The cold bit into her flesh right down to the bone, and the nights seemed endless. The streets of Tunaust never felt entirely safe to her.

Hildebrand had trained her relentlessly over the past few months. And something within her had indeed changed. Her grip on her sword was steady, her movements were more precise, and her endurance was now equal to anyone’s.

The young princess, who at one time had to be protected at all costs, had become a warrior capable of standing up to her opponents.

“I’ve never seen a recruit progress this quickly,” Hilde marveled.

Since the arrival of The Darkness, the pair had been operating on the outskirts of the city. They acted as guard duty, patrols, escorts, and exterminators of creatures driven by hunger. It was honest work. Nothing particularly glorious, but enough to survive. The money provided them with lodging and hot meals.

Little by little, Lena had built a reputation within the mercenary guild. She was righteous and relentless. So much so that she had been nicknamed “the Ice Queen.” It suited her perfectly, especially when some people thought they had the right to ogle her without restraint.

This new-found reputation had also brought its share of advantages. Contracts came in steadily, however modest. And their names were now mentioned in the nearby taverns.

By listening more than they spoke, and paying for information, when necessary, Lena and Hilde had begun to discern what was afoot.

Barely a week after their escape, Kustdin had fallen into the hands of the Church. Rumors spoke of breached ramparts and imposing siege engines, but what followed was even more troubling.

Less than a day after the capital was taken, the palace had announced the disappearance of the king and of Princess Elena. Then, almost immediately, a successor had emerged.

Duke Schwein Khanka had proclaimed himself the rightful ruler and, shortly afterward, the fighting had finally ceased. The news had spread throughout the kingdom, all the way to the frontier towns.

“That’s unusually fast… You don’t replace a king overnight,” Elena announced.

Back in the present, Lena was heading toward her bedroom with a satisfied look on her face.

“All right. I’m ready,” she announced.

As always, Hilde was already waiting by the exit. He handed the young woman a canvas bag.

“Here’s your gear,” he said, looking grumpy.

“Is there a problem?”

He grunted in response, which caused Lena to stop in her tracks. She stared at him with those penetrating azure eyes, trying to figure out what was wrong with him.

“Don’t tell me you’re still mulling over that bounty business?”

Hilde remained silent at first but clenched his fist around the pommel of his sword. He sighed before replying, “My instinct tells me there are too many coincidences surrounding our current situation.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your father is listed as “missing,” and so are you. And now someone else is wearing the crown.”

“I’ll grant you that, Hilde. But things are what they are. Please get to the point,” retorted the princess, who was growing impatient.

“I still don’t understand what the duke is after. Even after all this time, we still haven’t managed to uncover any details about his plans.”

“Do you think this is some kind of scheme by the clergy?” Lena asked, frowning.

“The end of fighting with the Church was too… sudden to be believable. And if he’s already king, then why put a bounty on your head?”

“Ah-ha, I was right about what was bothering him,” the young woman thought, biting her lower lip.

Lena knew he was right. But every time she dwelled on it, the gaping wound reopened. Her father’s death, the fall of Kustdin, the duke’s schemes, and everything she had lost. A shiver ran through her for a split second.

Setting aside her doubts, Lena stood her ground in front of Hilde and stared him down. Her eyes took on an amethyst hue as she raised her index finger close to her companion’s face. The static electricity that emanated from it made the hair on his head stand on end, a palpable scent of ozone filling the air.

“Hilde!” she hissed angrily through gritted teeth.

The man tensed, restraining himself from giving her a military salute.

“I trust your instincts. But for now, we have a potential contract with a client. So, your theories will have to wait, okay?” Lena said, before opening the door.

After walking for a few minutes, Lena and Hilde pushed open the doors of the guild.

The heat and noise hit them immediately. Voices mingled, mugs clattered against tables, and the acrid smell of alcohol and sweat hung in the thick air. It was a world apart from the oppressive silence of the winter streets over the past few months.

Several eyes turned toward them as they entered. Some were curious, others appraising. None, however, mistook them for strangers. Lena held their gaze for a brief moment, then ignored them.

Hilde had already spotted their client. He gave his mistress a light nudge and pointed to a dark corner of the lobby. A thin man was sitting there alone, almost conspicuously so amid all the hustle and bustle. His fingers drummed nervously on the table, and his eyes kept drifting toward the entrance, like an animal ready to make a run for it.

The princess approached the man confidently. True to form, the guard remained at a distance behind her, like a protective shadow.

“Are you Lena?” the man blurted out without preamble.

He didn’t stand up to shake her hand, but his fingers stopped tapping.

“That’s me. And you are?”

“Jalcrek.”

“Pleased to meet you. I heard you needed an escort,” the young woman began.

“Yes, I have to get to Antradin, a three-day journey from here. I have some goods I don’t want to lose,” he grumbled.

Lena exchanged a quick glance with her companion. The client noticed this and added:

“The roads have been unsafe since the thaw.”

“Unsafe how?” Hilde asked.

“Looters. And… something else.”

“You’re not telling us everything,” the guard retorted.

Lena crossed her arms and eyed the suspicious man closely.

“So? Where are we going?” she pressed.

He sighed, then spoke: “We’ll go through…” He hesitated for a second. “Pauweik…”

Lena fell silent upon hearing this. The name sent a shiver down her spine, though she didn’t know why.

“I’d have preferred to avoid it,” the man muttered, barely audibly.

The princess cast one last glance at Hilde. She read the hesitation in his expression, then spoke again.

“We accept the job. But at the slightest hint of deceit, we’re out of here. Is that clear?” she declared, extending her hand toward Jalcrek.

Nodding, he shook her hand.

“Good. We’ll leave at dawn.”

Outside the guild, the princess and her companion were greeted by a biting wind. Despite the end of The Darkness, the weather was unpredictable. They headed toward the main square to buy supplies.

“That man is hiding something from us. There’s still time to back out,” the guard said, pulling his cloak tighter around himself.

“Hilde, what do you know about Antradin?”

“Other than the fact that it’s an isolated hamlet beyond Nerauskei?”

“Yes… I’m especially curious about his hesitation regarding Pauweik.”

“Have you already forgotten? For heaven’s sake, Lena, could you at least try?” Hilde complained, visibly disappointed.

The young woman came to a halt and stared at him, hands on her hips.

“I haven’t forgotten anything. I know the name, and I know where it is,” she protested, aggravated by his remark.

“But that’s not all…”, Hilde said.

“It’s halfway between Antradin and Nerauskei.”

“Lena…”

“You’re talking about the rumors, aren’t you? The ones from the beginning of The Darkness?”

Hilde nodded before sighing. He knew his mistress well enough to know that curiosity often overcame logic.

❖

Several days later, their little convoy was progressing, albeit slowly. The rapid thaw that followed the end of The Darkness had rendered a significant number of the roads impassable. They had turned into treacherous mud pits, lengthening the journey to more than five days.

After Nerauskei, the group continued its trek toward Pauweik. The merchant kept glancing at the trees lining the road, fearing that bandits might emerge at any moment. Lena walked to the left of the wagon, one hand resting on the pommel of her sword. She felt a certain distrust of the merchant and remained vigilant. The memory of her first mission surely had something to do with this, but Lena kept that thought to herself.

Hilde, as always, brought up the rear. This allowed him to keep a watchful eye on his mistress.

“We must be near Pauweik. I recognize that little hill,” Jalcrek announced, relieved.

Lena didn’t answer right away; she was busy surveying the surroundings.

“Something’s off here… Do you smell that?” she asked.

The guard nodded and motioned for her to look ahead. No singing birds disturbed the silence. Nothing.

When they crossed the ridge, the landscape opened up before them, and the forest gave way to a vast white expanse. A river wound its way through it. In the center lay Pauweik, or at least what was left of it.

Blackened house frames jutted through the white blanket of snow. The collapsed roofs and beams stood out like charred trees. In some places, the snow had melted, revealing a thick layer of ash. No one spoke or moved.

“So, they were telling the truth after all…” Jalcrek finally muttered before climbing down from his wagon.

Hilde acted quickly and was the first to descend the slope. He stopped near a gutted structure and kicked aside a charred piece of debris. Something became visible beneath it: a blackened, curled-up arm.

The smell hit Lena instantly. It wasn’t just the stench of ash floating in the air, but something else.

“By all the gods…” Jalcrek whispered.

“Shut up!” Hilde snapped without looking up.

“Look,” he said, pointing to the ground.

Footprints were visible, numerous and fresh, crisscrossing the entire village. All of them converged toward the center, toward the remains of a well.

“We should take a look at it,” Lena said, pointing at the structure.

She cautiously made her way through the rubble. Each step she took sent up a cloud of soot that made the smell even more pungent. When she reached the well, she saw that the stones were blackened and that planks were strewn over the opening.

The young woman pulled one away, and then another, before peering inside. To her horror, a mass of bodies lay stacked at the well’s bottom. They were twisted, charred, and intertwined, like dead wood.

Lena gasped at the gruesome sight. Stumbling backward, her heel caught on something, and she fell on her butt.

“Lena! Are you all right?”

Hilde rushed toward her, then bent down to peer into the well. His face went pale when he saw the body of a child.

On the night of their escape from Kustdin, he’d seen the broken-down door. The blood on the floor. The bodies that were gutted like animals.

Then, a muffled sound had come from inside a closet. He had approached it before yanking open the doors. He had seen the coats he was looking for.

And in the dark corner… two eyes were staring at him. A child curled up, knees pressed against his chest. Silent. Motionless. The child's gaze had met his just as a small hand timidly rose. Then the guard closed the doors.

Hilde snapped back to reality, his skin dripping with sweat and his heart pounding. He hoped neither their client nor Lena had noticed anything unusual.

“None of this is accidental. It’s clear that this village has been the victim of an organized attack. I have no desire to find out who did it or why,” the guard said solemnly.

“I agree. We’d better get the hell out of here,” added Jalcrek.

Lena nodded, but her attention had been drawn elsewhere. Intrigued, she had approached a pile of charred wooden planks a few meters from the well. She took a deep breath.

“The nausea can wait,” she thought to herself before crouching down to inspect it. She began moving the pieces of the pile, one by one. After a few moments, she carefully extracted a book from the rubble. It was half-burned, its pages torn and blackened by the flames.

“A book, here!? Why would something so precious be here?” she whispered.

“Again, it’s no mere coincidence,” replied Hilde.

Jalcrek, who had been standing back, moved closer, visibly nervous. “We really should get out of here as soon as possible… It’s not safe,” he said in a trembling voice.

“Out of the question! I think there are still answers to be found among those remains,” Lena retorted, clutching the book to her chest.

Before the group could continue their investigation, a noise disturbed the apparent calm of the ruins. The sound seemed to come from the forest on the outskirts of Pauweik. They could also hear commanding voices in the distance. Jalcrek turned pale at once.

“No, no… Not them…”

Hilde turned his head toward him.

“Who do you mean, ‘them’?”

The merchant swallowed hard.

“I’ve heard that a Church patrol had been roaming the area since the thaw… They’re questioning travelers and searching cargo. I didn’t think they’d still be here.”

The silence grew even heavier.

“You knew, and you didn’t say anything?” Hilde growled.

“I… I wasn’t sure… And I needed this contract…” he defended himself in a low voice.

The guard immediately turned to his mistress.

“Lena, we have company. You’d better hide that as quickly as possible.”

The young woman hurriedly put the book away among her belongings.

As the racket continued with increasing intensity, Hilde drew his sword and stepped a few meters ahead of his companions. Lena chose to stay put, her eyes were fixed on the edge of the woods and one hand gripped her weapon.

Less than a minute later, a group of a dozen soldiers emerged from the shadows, advancing with perfectly coordinated steps.

Lena’s pulse slowed. She instantly recognized the heraldry on their cloaks.

“The clergy… so, he was telling the truth after all,” Hilde muttered.

However, the man leading them seemed different from his comrades-in-arms.

He carried a finely crafted sword, and the symbols on his cloak featured red instead of blue. His face was marked by a scar running across his right cheek. Most striking, without a doubt, was the impassive gaze with which he surveyed his surroundings.

“Troops of the Inquisition. Please identify yourselves,” he said in a calm tone, without the slightest hint of irritation or anger.

“The Inquisition…” she mused as her stomach tightened.

Her eyes met his, then drifted to the red of his cloak. “Breathe,” she told herself.

Hilde immediately noticed the princess’s silence and was quick to respond.

“Two mercenaries escorting this merchant, nothing more,” he declared, pointing at Jalcrek.

The inquisitor kept his eyes peeled on him before briefly turning his attention to the merchant, then to Lena. He stared at her for a long time.

“Mercenaries… Here?”

His gaze swept over the still-smoking ruins, then returned to Hildebrand.

“You choose your travel routes poorly, mercenaries.”

“We were unaware of the village’s condition and merely stopped to assess the damage,” Lena replied in a nervous but steady voice.

A soldier approached and whispered something in his commander’s ear. The inquisitor nodded slightly before dismissing him with a wave of his hand.

“The inhabitants of this hamlet were found guilty of heresy, and their sentence was carried out,” he stated simply. He showed no emotion in his words or any sign of remorse. It was cold and clinical.

“You saw nothing. You heard nothing. And now you will leave,” he added, holding Lena’s gaze firmly.

A heavy silence settled momentarily before he continued, “The Inquisition ensures that evil does not spread. Curiosity… is a dangerous weakness.”

Hilde placed a firm hand on Lena’s shoulder.

“Come on, let’s go. Let’s get out of here…”

Jalcrek nodded immediately. Lena stared at the inquisitor for a second longer than necessary. She finally looked away, but as she turned, one detail caught her attention. A soldier standing slightly to the side who was missing his right hand. In its place was a stump wrapped in bandages. She etched his face and that of the inquisitor into her memory.

Without another word, the trio left the ruins. Behind them, the sound of muffled laughter could be heard.

The journey back to Nerauskei was completely silent, broken only by the steady creaking of the wheels.

Jalcrek kept his eyes glued to the road. Hilde walked in front this time, his sword drawn and resting on his shoulder.

Lena, meanwhile, had taken the book out of her pack. The cover was completely blackened, and the pages were warped by the heat. Some were nearly reduced to ashes. She carefully turned to an intact page and saw that characters were spread across it in perfectly straight lines.

The young woman furrowed her brow, then squinted to focus better. There were no ornate initials here, or, for that matter, any other resemblance to the calligraphy of the kingdom’s scribes. Each symbol was crisp and angular, identical from one line to the next. Some symbols appeared repeatedly, always in the same shape and at the same angle. It was as if they had been reproduced endlessly, without human intervention.

Her stomach tightened, and the inquisitor’s words echoed once more in her mind. The villagers had been found guilty and executed.

Her fingers tightened around the paper.

“Nothing burned by mistake, she thought.”

The group walked until sunset, when they finally passed through the gates of Nerauskei.

The merchants were hurriedly packing up their stalls. The town’s lanterns were being lit one by one, casting flickering halos on the damp cobblestones.

Although more modest than Tunaust, the place remained bustling with the comings and goings of caravans and passing mercenaries.

No sooner had they reached the central square than Jalcrek jumped down from his cart and tossed a purse to Lena.

“Here’s your payment. As agreed. Now I… I have to take care of a few things,” he stammered.

He didn’t wait for a reply but abruptly walked away down a dark alley.

“Charming…” Hilde muttered.

Lena hefted the purse in her hand without paying it any mind.

“This book and what we saw in Pauweik… None of this is normal,” she said, puzzled.

“As far as I’m concerned, it wouldn’t be wise to meddle in the Church’s affairs.”

“An entire village was reduced to ashes, Hilde!”

“Exactly!”

She shot him an angry glance.

“If we look the other way now, how many more will follow, hmm?”

Hilde stared at her for a long moment, then sighed.

“All right. Where do we start?”

A brief silence.

“Why not at a tavern? People always talk more freely when they’ve had a drink.”

They made their way to the Ivory Apple, a popular tavern in Nerauskei.

Like other similar establishments the pair had visited over the past few months, the air there was thick. A strong stench of beer, sweat, and cold smoke filled the place.

“Great…” Lena murmured sarcastically as they entered.

Hilde nodded toward a dark corner. They settled in and waited. An hour passed. Still nothing. Then the word “looter” caught Lena’s ear.

At the next table, a drunk man was talking too loudly.

“I’m telling ya, he found somethin’ near the burned-down village… right after the purification.”

“Shut up, you idiot! Do you want to end up hung?”

Lena and Hilde exchanged a glance, then stood up.

“Where can we find this man?” Lena asked calmly.

The two men jumped at once.

“And who are you?”

“People who pay,” Hilde replied, glaring at the man sternly.

The drunkard eyed Lena from head to toe while licking his lips.

“We can work something out if… she stays the night with me…”

He hadn’t even finished his sentence before Lena’s eyes turned amethyst. The scent of ozone tickled Hilde’s nostrils, and he cleared his throat.

“Think it over,” he said, tossing a gold coin onto the table.

The more sober of the two turned pale at once.

“His… his name is Skotto. He hangs out at the merchants’ guild warehouse. But you’ve never spoken to us, understood?”

“No, never,” Lena concurred.

The two mercenaries then made their way toward the merchants’ guild warehouse. Their way was lit by only a few lanterns and the debris of a celestial body shimmering in the sky.

The building was ravaged by moisture and neglect. Its windows were boarded up with cracked wooden planks that let only a few rays of light filter through.

They stopped in front of the weathered wooden double doors, and Hilde knocked.

After a long moment, the door opened to reveal a man with haggard features and trembling hands.

“What do you want?”

“Are you Skotto? We were told you found something in Pauweik,” the young woman began, crossing her arms.

Skotto raised an eyebrow, his mistrust of them clearly visible.

Without a word, Hilde unfastened a small leather pouch from his belt and tossed it toward the man. When Skotto opened the pouch, the sight of coins made his eyes gleam with greed.

“Come in,” he finally offered.

Inside, boxes and objects were piled up in a terrible mess. The sight reminded Lena of the night they fled the capital. She shook her head to dismiss the thought.

Meanwhile, Skotto was rummaging through the clutter on a table. A few moments later, he returned with an object in his hand.

The princess held her breath when she saw it. The object was thin and rectangular. Its black surface was smooth, reflective, and free of even the slightest scratch.

“What is it?” Hilde asked.

He touched it warily with his fingertips. Its coldness surprised the guard.

“No idea. I found it near the well in a bag marked with the Church’s seal,” replied the looter.

Lena felt her stomach clench.

“And was there anything else?”

“An old, worthless, burned book.”

The princess’s eyes focused on the thin protrusions along the sides of the object. The black surface seemed to hypnotize her.

She reached out toward it. The moment her fingers brushed against it, the object vibrated briefly, and a thin streak of light sliced across its dark surface.

Skotto stood there, speechless.

“What the hell was that?!”

For a split second, it lit up, as if it had come to life. A strange symbol appeared, sharp and angular, and then everything went black again.

Lena’s heart was pounding. The object had clearly reacted to her touch. Skotto stumbled backward, bumping into a crate. Hilde had never seen magic quite like that before. He looked first at the strange device, then at Lena, before speaking:

“This is no ordinary object.”

“Clearly no,” she whispered, still shaken.

A minute later, she turned to Skotto.

“We’re taking it.”

“No way! Do you take me for a fool? If you want…”

Hilde’s sword was pressed against Skotto’s throat before he could finish his sentence.

“Or we’ll take it by force.”

The looter swallowed hard before raising his hands in surrender.

“Holy fucking shit! Take the goddamn thing and get the hell out of here,” the man hissed through gritted teeth.

Lena grabbed the item and tucked it into her pack next to the book.

“Keep the money. And for your own sake, I hope you know how to hold your tongue,” she said, pointing to the purse the man was still holding.

After they left, they walked in silence toward the inn. Then Hilde broke the silence.

“I saw what happened when you touched it… It’s not just some trinket.”

“No… you’re right…”

She placed a hand on her bag, as if she could feel the object through the fabric, the thing they thought was lifeless.

“And Pauweik burned for that…”