Chapter Fifteen

“This is the end of the road for me,” Izurb announced as he stopped and turned to face Lusya and Ariya. “Clearwood is just down the road.” He pointed into the distance, presumably toward the village. The direction he was pointing did not actually align with the road at all. “Take a left at the fork up ahead and you’ll be there before nightfall.”

“Thank you for the directions and for your services,” Lusya said. She pulled forty copper coins from her purse and handed them to him. “Here is your payment.”

He had not stumbled into any additional traps after the one the previous day. As such, he had proved helpful. Without him, she would have had little choice but to avoid the entire trapped area. That could have delayed her by days or more.

“Do you really have to go?” Ariya asked in a small voice, pouting. “It was fun having you with us.”

He chuckled. “Course it was. Meeting new people is always fun. Traveling with them is even better. But no journey lasts forever. I’ve gotta head home now. Maybe we’ll meet again if you drop back by in Gavamir someday.”

"‘Always fun’ seems an overstatement to me,” Lusya said. She would not deny meeting new people could be interesting and she had not minded Izurb’s company, but there were certainly times when encounters could be unpleasant.

It was also doubtful they would ever see each other again, but she decided to keep that to herself. She did not want to arouse suspicion or concern from Ariya.

“Well, maybe not always, but most of the time,” Ariya said, frowning. She turned her attention back to Izurb and grinned. “I’ll come visit and see if you fixed your script.”

Izurb chuckled and scratched his head. “I sure hope I have. Can’t believe I didn’t catch that. Safe travels, you two.”

“You as well,” Lusya said.

He gave her a nod and a grin and marched back toward Gavamir. Lusya watched for a moment, then turned away and started walking. Ariya took a second to realize Lusya was moving, then ran to catch up and settled into a walk beside Lusya.

It was an uneventful walk down the road. There were no obstacles and distractions for some time. A wagon drove past, but the driver did not stop or acknowledge them in any way.

At first, they walked in silence, which suited Lusya just fine. At some point, however, Ariya seemed to tire of it.

“What are we gonna do in Clearwater?” she asked.

“The village’s name is Clearwood,” Lusya replied. “And we will stay the night at an inn and leave tomorrow morning.”

She was not sure what else the child expected they would do. Even on the off chance there was anything of interest in the village, Lusya was not going to waste time sightseeing.

Ariya sighed. “Why can’t we ever stay anywhere for a little bit?”

“Because we have a destination to reach.”

“Oh, yeah,” Ariya said, as if she had forgotten. “But like, a day would be fine, right?”

“No. Time is of the essence.”

“Oh. Okay.”

They reached the fork in the road before long and followed Izurb’s instructions. Going by the fact that there was no sign of the town yet, they still had quite some walking to do. After about twenty minutes, however, something caught Lusya’s attention on the side of the road. A mangled shape several dozen feet off the side of the road.

“What’s that?” Ariya asked, pointing at the form.

She started to run toward it, but only made it a couple steps before Lusya grabbed her by the dress and pulled her back.

“It is nothing important,” Lusya said.

Ariya pouted and stomped a foot. “But I wanna know!”

Lusya blinked. In truth, she was curious as well. As long as the child behaved, there was no harm in indulging that curiosity. It may have been beneficial, even.

“I will investigate and tell you if it is anything interesting,” Lusya said. “Does that satisfy you?”

Ariya made a sound somewhere between a whimper and a contemplative hum and sighed. “I guess. But I wanna see it too if it’s cool.”

“That will be decided after my investigation,” Lusya replied. “You will stay here until I say otherwise.”

Ariya gave a huff, followed by a hesitant, resigned nod. “Yes, Lusya.”

Lusya approached the shape. As she drew near, it was obvious what it was: a wagon. Specifically, a covered wagon that had been turned onto its side. The front half had also been crushed, the driver’s seat included. There were no horses to be seen and the reigns on the ground nearby appeared to have been snapped in half. Perhaps torn would have been more accurate. The ends were stringy and frayed. Whatever had severed them, it had not been a clean cut. Droplets of blood on and around them suggested the horses had not simply run off.

It was doubtful the other inhabitants of the wagon had had much less tragic a fate. She could see some dark spots on the cover from the outside. When she circled around and crouched to peer into the wagon, her suspicion that those spots were blood was confirmed. It was hard to tell how old the blood was, but it was not fresh. It had already dried and changed from the vibrant red of fresh blood to the dull, sickly brown of that which had been spilled some time ago. The unique metallic smell of blood hung in the air, but it was faint, further indicating that this wagon had been destroyed some time ago.

There were no people nor corpses in the back, though that was not to say there were no remains. A single severed arm lied limp and distended on the ground, half propped up against the entrance. It was pale as a sheet, with insects buzzing about and maggots squirming inside the open end. Its rancid scent was still thick within the carriage.

The wagon had been the victim of some kind of attack, that much was obvious. From what or whom was harder to say. Bandits were a possibility, but they were not often so thorough in cleaning the sites of their attacks. They got what they needed and left. The way the carriage had been crushed also made it unlikely. It was not impossible bandits could have done that with sufficient resources, planning, or perhaps a member proficient in motomancy.

However, it also seemed excessive, more than a simple robbery demanded. On top of that, bandits or thieves would typically want to leave anything with potential use or value intact. The wagon seemed to meet those criteria.

She knew of no animals that could cause this type of damage. None that lived in this area of Ysuge, at least. She had heard tell of larger animals that lived on other continents.

That left one plausible option: a demon. It could have been low-rank or minor-rank. The former was more likely. They were more common, and this level of thoroughness was uncharacteristic of minor-ranks, who were little more than beasts with heightened aggression. One would expect an attack by them to have left behind plenty of gore to find.

Despite their best efforts, mortals could not rid the world of demons. Demons were formed of Malice and Malice was birthed from the hearts of sapient life, both mortals themselves and the very demons Malice created. The Demon King had always been slain so far, and many other demons were often killed in the process. The Sacred Knights also made defeating any high-rank demons they became aware of a high priority.

Extermination, however, was infeasible, if not impossible. A new demon could spawn at any time in just about any place and go years without causing enough trouble to land in the Sacred Knights’ sights. That did not mean they were not harming anyone, just too little to draw attention to themselves. And while low-rank demons were primitive beings, they were not without intelligence, unlike the minor-ranks. A low-rank could go into hiding or be selective about their targets. With Father’s death just six months prior, many had likely become more cautious.

Whatever had destroyed the wagon, Lusya would not allow the child to see it. She did not think the child had a sufficient understanding of mortality or the world in general to draw the right conclusions, but there was no sense in risking it. If nothing else, the stench was unpleasant and Lusya saw no reason to expose the child to it.

Lusya stood and returned to Ariya.

“Well?” Ariya asked. “What was it?”

“It is an abandoned and damaged wagon,” Lusya replied. “I do not know why it is in that state.”

Ariya looked at the wagon and pursed her lips. “Do you think the people are okay?”

“I cannot say for certain.”

“Oh,” Ariya said, her gaze still on the wagon. She smiled and looked up at Lusya. “Well, I’m sure they’re fine. We can go now.”

“Then come. We have wasted enough time here.”

#

Lusya had not expected Clearwood to be bursting with life. It was a larger town than the likes of Riverglade, but still a tiny village in the grand scheme. After Gavamir, the contrast was almost comical. She could see just three buildings with more than one floor, and few of the buildings were more than ten feet across. Most had been constructed of wood as well, rather than the stone or brick favored in Gavamir. A quiet town with a few residents out and about had been her expectation.

Instead, the streets were deserted. There was not a soul to be seen. It was evening, but early evening. Lusya would have not expected the town’s inhabitants to have shut themselves away before the sun had even set.

It was clear that the town itself was not abandoned. Lusya could sense the Malice of dozens of mortals in their homes. Even if she could not have, many of the buildings glowed from within with light. There was shuffling, whispering, and the occasional sobbing from the insides of homes as well.

Nor did it seem the town had been attacked or occupied. There were no signs of a struggle, every building was perfectly intact, and no guards one would expect from an army or bandit group using the town as a base.

Yet everybody seemed to have shut themselves away as if hiding from something. A few peered out their windows as Lusya passed, but that was as close to interaction as they got. Was it her they feared? Lusya knew that small towns could be hostile to newcomers, but this seemed a little extreme.

“Where is everyone?” Ariya asked.

“They appear to be taking shelter in their homes,” Lusya said. “I am unsure why.”

“Maybe they heard you were coming. You are kind of scary sometimes.”

Lusya blinked. “I frighten you?”

“Not anymore, now that I know you’re a nice lady,” Ariya said.

“…I see.” Lusya did not think many people would agree with that assessment. “In any case, it seems unlikely I am the cause of this.”

It was possible someone had seen travelers approaching and that, for some reason, that had spurred the town into this lockdown. However, it was doubtful they knew who Lusya was specifically. Few mortals even knew she existed, even among the likes of the Sacred Knights. Which left the question of why travelers were cause for such behavior. And so, the state of the town remained a mystery. With nobody around, she could not even inquire about the situation. All she could do was hope the inn was still operating.

They were already approaching the inn. It was one of the few buildings with what appeared to be two floors. The sign outside had been freshly painted, indicating the building as the “Feral Rabbit Inn.” That odd choice of name was accompanied by a picture of a giant rabbit with spiked fur locked in combat with an armored swordsman.

Although such inns often doubled as taverns and social space for the locals, this one was as sedate as the rest of the village. There appeared to be a handful of patrons inside—that, or the inn had a much larger than necessary staff—but there were no heated conversations or drunken merriment to be heard.

At least that answered the question of whether or not it was operating, though it was still possible they would refuse guests for the night. Lusya did not have long to ponder that, however. One of the patrons came into view through the window as she neared. He seemed to see her as well. His eyes widened and he scrambled out of his seat and away from the window.

A moment later, the door opened, and a different man stormed out onto the wooden deck stretching across the front of the building.

“Fool girls, what are you doing out here?” he shouted to Lusya. He was a human. Though he looked to be in his late thirties or early forties, his brown hair was already thinning. “Hurry up and get in here.”

“He’s mean,” Ariya said. “Why is he yelling?”

“I am unsure,” Lusya replied. She was not aware of anything she or Ariya might have done to draw his ire.

The man let out a groan. “I’m yelling because I don’t want you get eaten. So come inside already!”

So, he was concerned for their safety. Why did he sound angry, then? That seemed likely to provoke the opposite of the desired response.

“I see,” Lusya said. “We will enter.”

Ariya shook her head and made a couple exaggerated grunts. “I don’t wanna go into the meanie inn.”

“It is our best option, and you have no input on this decision,” Lusya said. Ariya pouted at her. “If he is ‘mean’ again, I will correct him.”

“You mean you’ll beat him up?” Ariya asked.

“That depends on him. Come along. I will simply move you if you insist on being disobedient.”

Ariya sighed and hung her head in apparent resignation. “Yes, Lusya.”

Lusya led the way into the inn. Despite his earlier demeanor and her implicit threats, the innkeeper regarded both her and Ariya with a bemused smirk as they walked past him into the establishment. Once he had shut the door behind them, however, he sighed and and frowned at them, crossing his arms over his chest.

“By the shadowlands, what are you doing in Clearwood?” he asked. “You got a death wish?”

Lusya cocked her head and blinked, once then once more. “I do not understand the nature of your question. I am not aware of any factors making Clearwood particularly dangerous.”

The innkeeper clicked his tongue and turned to look at another man sitting at the edge of the room. “Loc, looks like we’ve got our answer!” the innkeeper shouted.

The other man, Loc, smiled and raised a mug as if in toast.

“I was hoping word had gotten out by now,” the innkeeper said with a sigh. “If only so we could get help faster.” He clicked his tongue again and hesitated before continuing. “I don’t mean to alarm you, but we have a bit of demon problem.”

So, the humans were hiding in fear of a demon, perhaps the same one that had attacked that wagon. Though it was hard to be certain. It was even possible the villagers had attributed some mundane problem to a demon. It was not unheard of for mortals to do that. She did recall Izurb’s plants mentioning a demon problem north of Gavamir, but that could have been a coincidence.

“I thought all the demons were gone or hiding,” Ariya said.

Lusya gave her a shushing gesture and turned back to the innkeeper. Knowing more about this threat could be helpful when Lusya and Ariya set out again the next day. “What do you mean by a demon problem?”

“Exactly what it sounds like,” the innkeeper said with a scowl. “There’s a demon living not too far from the town. I haven’t seen it myself, but I’ve heard it’s bigger than a house. Already killed a handful of travelers and a few townsfolk who were stupid enough to go out with it prowling around. It’s been making a snack of some of the livestock a farmer just west of the village has got too. Luckily, the old man’s been smart enough not to try to stop it.”

“That’s no good,” Ariya said. “I was going to say Izurb was bigger than the houses here, but that doesn’t sound like him.”

“While humans mistaking tiransa for demons is not unheard of,” Lusya said, “it was never plausible that the demon in question was him.”

“Okay. What’s plausible mean?”

“Likely.”

“Oh! I guess you’re right.”

“Have you sent for aid from the Sacred Knights?” Lusya asked the innkeeper.

He nodded. “Of course we have. We sent the messenger in the opposite direction from where the demon lives. We even had someone escort him part of the way and come back, so we would know he didn’t get eaten.”

“But of course, we haven’t got a response,” an older man sitting at a nearby table said. “Just some small village in the middle of nowhere. Course they’re not gonna help us. City-slicker Sacred Knights probably wouldn’t even do it right.”

“Considering you would not be in this predicament if you knew how to kill demons, I am curious what grounds you have to draw that conclusion,” Lusya said.

“Watch your tongue, missy,” the man replied. “Don’t think I won’t smack a mouthy lady to put ‘er in ‘er place.”

“You shouldn’t do that,” Ariya said.

“I’ll smack you too if—”

“You will be harmed far worse if you place a hand on her,” Lusya said.

The man grumbled something unintelligible, took a swig of his drink, and then stared into his mug, seemingly trying to ignore them.

“It is true that we haven’t gotten any word back yet,” the innkeeper said. “It’s been a couple months since this started and about one since we sent out our message. Can’t imagine why it’s taking so long.”

“Did this messenger take a carriage or a wagon?” Lusya asked.

The innkeeper quirked and eyebrow, then shook his head. “No, he just rode his horse. Why do you ask?”

“It is not important. In that case, it is not surprising you have not heard back. The closest Sacred Knight stronghold is close to a month’s travel on foot,” Lusya said. “It is less on horseback, but a month for a message to get there and a reply to arrive is not unreasonable.”

The innkeeper sighed. “I guess you’ve got a point. Hard to think of it that way when everyone’s on edge.”

“I am curious, did you send your messenger toward Gavamir?” she asked. If the mention in Izurb’s script was a result of the messenger telling people in Gavamir, it made even more sense.

“Yeah, why?”

“That is a little out of the way,” Lusya said. “It will have delayed your response further.”

The innkeeper’s jaw dropped, and he went as still as if he had died for a moment. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

“There is no reason I would do that, and I do not understand why you would want me to lie.”

He buried his face in his hands and groaned. “We thought…There’s not a stronghold in Gavamir? Or at least close by?”

“There is not,” Lusya said with a shake of her head. “As I said, the closest is over a month away, while Gavamir is a couple days. The stronghold is also to the northeast, while Gavamir is southeast of here.”

“I thought every city had one.”

“You were incorrect.”

Though many cities were home to or near the Sacred Knights’ so-called strongholds, many were not. Most, in fact. Some strongholds were also in or near smaller communities or freestanding. Lusya had known many of their locations to begin with and had taken care to brush up before starting her journey.

Though they were called strongholds, many were not designed to be defensible in their own right. Those in cities, especially, served as barracks and information centers, where citizens could ask for aid or report suspected demon activity. Even their vaunted “grand strongholds,” all of which had started as actual fortresses, had become less tenable as they had expanded.

Gavamir did not have a stronghold. The best the messenger could hope for there was to run into a group on some other assignment by coincidence, much like she had.

“And we thought we were being clever, sending him away from the demon. Now we find out we should have just sent him around,” the innkeeper said with a shake of his hanging head. He looked at Lusya with wide eyes. “Still, if Gavamir’s so close, it can’t have been a huge delay, right?”

Lusya nodded. “It will not have been long, assuming they found out where to go.”

He sighed. “I guess it’s not worth getting worked up over, then.” He let out a joyless, almost monotone chuckle. “Not that that’s much comfort.”

Lusya tilted her head. “Has the demon encroached on the town itself?”

“Not yet, but it’s been getting closer. It’s only a matter of time, and no one wants to be first on the menu when it does show up. That’s why everybody but these idiots…” he gestured across the dining room at the seated patrons. Most of them reacted to the insult with smiles and laughter. “…is locked up tight in their house.”

“That will not offer much protection.”

Based on what she had been told about this demon and the state of the wagon, it would have little trouble breaking through a house’s walls. It may have been slowed, but not stopped.

The innkeeper shrugged. “Not much is better than nothing.” He sighed. “We’ve been letting travelers know what’s happening and asking them to spread the word. But I guess it hasn’t been enough.”

That was not surprising. Clearwood was not a population center, nor was it a trade or travel hub. It did not have any notable landmarks or holy sites that would draw travelers or pilgrims. Even if every traveler who had passed through in two months took the situation seriously and remembered to spread the information, it would not reach very far.

“Since you’re here, you might as well stay the night,” the innkeeper said. “It’ll be safer during the day, for what that’s worth.” He chuckled. “You’re still paying full price, though.”

“I have no objections to that,” Lusya said. She doubted this demon would pose much of a threat to her, but she had been planning to stay the night anyway.

She looked to Ariya, who seemed lost in thought. The child was staring at Lusya, but her eyes were unfocused.

“Child, take a seat,” Lusya said. “I will take care of payment.”

Ariya blinked. “What? Oh, sit down? Okay.”

She wandered to a nearby table and sat, though she still looked to be pondering something. Lusya decided to let her. It was probably nothing important.