[The Northern Realm Of Merseax]
Ever since we parted ways with the elves from Celemir I've felt like the both of us were getting closer and closer to our goal now. She and I walked together on the road past the rolling green hills and onwards to the settlement that seemed so far away before. The sun was shining and even though this was apparently Autumn there was a nice breeze and it was actually warm too. I had high hopes. And Lyca squeezing my hand in her paw only added to that. Since the very moment I finally told her how I felt she'd been practically glowing with joy. Every time I looked to my left she would smile brightly and show me those pearly whites of hers. It didn't take long at all before she and I started seeing people in the distance now.
I could see out in the fields of golden wheat from a far off people cutting it and tying them into sheaves. There were human children playing off in the distance as well, running and chasing each other. I also saw some shepherds tending to their flocks of sheep and watching them while they graze and I also saw people using donkeys to pull carts to windmills as well. If I were to hazard a guess I'd say this place is a very agrarian part of Merseax. However as I got closer I could also see peddlers riding in horse drawn wagons so perhaps there's trade here as too. Either way I made it a mental note to find a job as soon as possible, find a room at a local inn and hopefully get some directions to the capital. I didn't want to be here long.
As the both of us got closer to the town I saw that there was a stone wall all around it. Obvious reasons. I also saw two guards by the wooden gate. Both of them wore matching uniforms. Yellow tunics and blue trousers with leather boots, chainmail shirts and metal helmets. Both of them were actually not standing guard but off to one side of the gate. They also had their helmets taken off and looked like they were just talking. I stopped and looked over to Lyca. She smiled at first but looked concerned when I didn't smile back. I remembered the warning I got both from the Jarl back when we escaped Ur'dalak and from the elves when we parted ways. How this realm was under the influence of the Church which was anti monster.
"Lyca?" I asked.
"Uh huh?" she asked back.
"You should put your hood up. Cover your ears." I told her.
"Why?" she asked tilting her head.
"Don't you remember? The Elves told us that many of the people here don't really like Mamono. I don't want you being harassed or worse and we don't want to cause trouble." I explained.
She smiled and nodded before putting her hood up. Now the robe itself would be enough to cover her paws and her tail and the hem of it went all the way to the ground. All we had to do was not fuck this up, get some answers and get in and out quickly. Should be easy right? The both of us kept walking and as soon as one of the guards turned to see us we stopped as they walked over. One had a sword at his hip and the other had a spear in his hand while both of them had their large teardrop shields strapped on over their backs. The man in the front had brown hair with a full beard while the other was blonde and clean shaven. Neither of them gave us any mean looks or anything. But I was cautious none the less.
"Greetings travelers." he says in a booming yet calm voice. "I see you have no cart and horse so you're obviously not merchants or peddlers and you yourself carry a sword. Who are you and what brings you here?" he asked me with his own hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
I raised my hands, keeping it off my sword to show I wasn't here to cause trouble or hiding anything on my person. "My wife and I are trying to find our way to the Merseax Capital. Is this it?" I asked him.
"Ulfrinth?" he asked looking at the other guard then back to me. "No Son the capital is another twenty miles east of here. This is the town of Aedorham. Why must you go to Ulfrinth?" he asked then.
"There are people I need to talk to there. It isn't anything really important but it is private." I answered. I figured it was for the best to not bring up the mages.
He was quiet for a moment and looked over to Lyca who smiled under her hood then back to me. "May I see your sword?" he asked extending his hand.
I drew the sword from my side and offered it to him who accepted and turned so that he and his fellow guard could examine it. That was when they started speaking in another strange language I was unfamiliar with.
"Ish Vinterheim en shteele." said the blonde one looking at the blade. He then looked at me too and spoke again. "E's garbin ish Vinterheimin asvel." he told the guard holding his sword.
The one holding my sword looked me in the eyes for a while and he was hard to read. But he did look to the other guard. "Maberech, beht e's facteh ish noan nordriman." he told him before speaking to me in English. "My friend was commenting that you have a sword made of Vinterheim steel. And you're wear clothing from that region as well. Yet you don't look at all like a Northman. Where are you from and where did you get these clothes and weapons?" he asked.
"I'm from Midland." I lied. Keeping with my earlier decision to avoid talking about my true origins until I've had a chance to speak with the mages about it. "It's a long story but the clothes and sword are gifts from a friend." I told them.
"Ach, Midlandian." his friend said nodding.
The first guard nodded and handed my sword back to me. "Alright, I guess you can go in." he said as they both headed back to the gate to open it. "Take some advice, draw that weapon on anyone and you'll have to answer to the Ealdorman. But if someone attacks you then you're allowed to defend yourself." he told me as they both opened the gate.
The both of us entered the town together with the wooden gates closing behind us. After passing under the archway we emerged to see a buzzling down of people. I had to take a moment and process what I was looking at. The buildings were well built, made from a combination of stone and wood. The people all wore similar clothing to what I've seen people wearing in Vinterheim. Men wore colorful tunics and trousers with leather or fur boots. The women wore colorful dresses over long sleeve blouses. The differences were subtle but I could tell they obviously weren't people from Vinterheim. The closest comparison I could think of are the Anglo Saxons of post Roman Britain. They had a real Germanic and Britannic look to them.
Another thing I also noticed was everyone was human. Normally I wouldn't think much about this but I remembered the warnings I've been getting the last few days. About how the largest religious institution on the continent were very anti monster. And while the north isn't under as much influence as the south is I was warned to still be careful not to ruffle the feathers and that meant having to make sure Lyca didn't do anything to upset the church. This is another reason why I really appreciated the cloaks with hoods. In addition to being very warm they also allowed Lyca to conceal her identity and a werewolf. It's why she and I were able to get by the guards without either of them noticing she wasn't a human. I'd like to keep it that way.
"So what are we gonna do now Theo?" I heard from behind.
I looked to see Lyca smiling from under her hood. That optimistic smile she always had whenever she wanted to know what I was planning. Almost like she was telling me "It's okay. No matter what happens I'll be there for you." Quite uplifting really. I couldn't help but smile at that.
"Well I think the first thing we should do is try and find a place to stay tonight. And I'm going to offer my services and get a part time job so I can afford a room. I'm hoping we can talk to some people at the inns here and get some directions to Ulfrinth. We already know it's further east of here, we just need to know which roads to take and more importantly get some more food and equipment." I explained. 'And hopefully we won't have Orcs to mess it all up for us like last time.' I said to myself inwardly. Suddenly I heard a loud and low growling noise and realized it was coming from Lyca who gave me an embarrassed smile, blushing from cheek to cheek. I couldn't help but smile back at that. "But first let's find a quiet place to eat." I told her.
I looked around for a second to see a nice and secluded place for us to eat in private. Yes I know I'm coming off as pretty paranoid right now but I think it's better to be a touch on edge rather then end up face down six feet under. I saw an alleyway and thought we could probably sneak around to the back and eat there out of sight. The alley was a little dark but nice and clean too without any garbage or such just laying around or anything. And it looked like we were the only ones back here too so it looked like I made a good choice. And as always, I made a mistake instead. As soon as she and I made it to the very back she and I were surrounded as a dozen and a half attackers swarmed us from all around, jumping out from behind barrels and such.
"GET EM!" shouted a boy who swung his stick. Fortunately for the both of us our attackers were a bunch of kids with sticks.
"Hey look Lyca, kids." I said looking around at the boys and girls surrounding us.
"Awww, they're adorable." she said smiling.
This seemed to really annoy one of the boys who I'm guessing was the leader of the group. "We're not kids! We're bandits and we're robbing you! Now hand over all your money or we'll beat it out of you!" he said trying to sound tough.
He was a boy with brown hair and grey eyes, fair skin like all the rest with dirt smeared on his cheeks, a dirty tan tunic and brown trousers. He looked to be probably thirteen and most likely the oldest of the bunch. He also had a wooden board with some wrappings around the handle for a club. Looking down at him I couldn't help but feel a little sorry. This kid was trying to look tough for the other boys and girls but I could see it in his eye he was only bluffing.
I decided to be nice but firm with him. Just enough to get the point across. "Listen kid, I'm not sure if any of you noticed this but I'm carrying a sword." I told him placing my hand on the hilt so they could see. "Now lucky you, I'm not the sort of person to draw a weapon on a child, but you should be careful because the next guy you try mugging may also be carrying a sword and he may not be as nice as I am." I said calmly.
"W-Well we have weapons too you see?" he said lifting his makeshift club. "So what do you say to that?" he asked trying to sound like a smartass.
"Yes I can see that." I replied looking at all the makeshift clubs they were carrying. "And while it's certainly brave of you to face a sword with a stick, it's definitely not the smartest. I'm sorry but these weapons you have aren't very effective." I said to them. One of the girls to my right, a young lass with blonde hair and blue eyes swung her club and bonked me on the head in response. "I stand corrected. Also, ow. Please don't do that again." I said rubbing the bump now forming from where she hit me.
"Sorry." she said bowing her head in disgrace.
"Don't be sorry! We're bandits! We don't apologize for robbing anybody! Now hand over your money you areshole!" he shouted.
Several of the kids were giggling at that. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at their response. Kids laughing at cussing is like laughing at burp and fart jokes. The lowest, most juvenile and unfunny humor out there. I was embarrassed to have to deal with this.
"Theo, if they're robbing us doesn't that mean they're bad?" Lyca asked tilting her head from under her hood.
I dreaded the idea of Lyca brutally beating these kids because they've obviously never seen a werewolf fight before. "No Lyca they're not bad kids, they're just poor and hungry aren't you?" I asked the boy who led them. At this point he put his weapon down and nodded his head. The other kids all put their weapons down and came up to not mug but beg. "Look, kids I don't have any money on me. I'm sorry but I just don't. However I do have some food. My wife and I were going to sit and eat. You're welcome to join us and we're happy to share some with you." I offered, looking to Lyca who smiled and nodded in response.
Lyca, the kids and I found a quiet place to sit and eat so I brought out the satchels that the elves gave us before we left them. Inside of course were some of the rations that they gave us as well as some of the game Lyca caught. The leftover pheasants she caught that we cooked up were still nice and moist thanks to keeping them wrapped up in clean cloth. They weren't hot anymore but they still tasted good. There were also the little elf buns that we were given. I don't know how they made these but the elves made a bread that remains nice and soft for a long time almost as if it's still fresh out of the oven. And of course there were the small jars of preservatives. Sweet and delicious strawberry and plum preserves to use as a spread.
There were ten boys and eight girls in total. They were mostly blondes or brunettes with a few redheads in the bunch. All of the boys wore tunics and trousers caked with mud and dirt with smears of dirt on their cheeks while the girls wore blouses and dresses that were no less dirty. All of them were barefoot too and I noticed that quite a few of them had some sores and blisters too. As I brought out the little buns and started spreading the preserves on them the kids were practically drooling. As I handed them out the kids greedily dug in and I could tell by the smiles that they loved them. Lyca and I also handed out the pheasant in pieces and the kids devoured it just as quickly. I can only imagine how many days they've gone without eating.
"So, what are your names?" I asked them.
And one by one they started introducing themselves. "Torphin, Egfrith, Cerdic, Alkeld, Botilda, Aelfhere, Edilda, Anlaf, Eadweald, Ronilda, Gethwine, Estrid, Heremond, Leofric, Aelfwear, Saewynn, Estrith, Alhwald." they all said one at a time.
"Where are your parents?" I asked, but thinking that I already knew the answer.
The oldest, Torphin was the one to answer. "We're all orphans." he answered. "All our mothers and fathers died either from a plague or from wars being fought between the kingdoms." he explained.
"Except for Cerdic, Eadweald and Ronilda. They're all Whoresons." said Leofric.
"Hey our mothers died too y'know." said Cerdic looking hurt by that.
"Yeah we're all in this together now." said Ronilda.
Figured as much. "And you all just live on the streets? Is there really nowhere else you can go?" I asked them.
"Well..." Estrith said rubbing the back of her neck.
"We're not going back to the orphanage." said Torphin sternly. "When we decided to leave together we swore that we would never go back." he reminded them.
"An orphanage?" Lyca asked tilting her head a little.
"It's a place where kids who have no parents live. It's run by adults who care for them until they're either adopted or all grown up and ready to leave on their own." I explained turning to her. I then turned back to the kids. "And was it really that bad that you all had to run away?" I asked them.
Eadweald would be the first to respond. "It's always crowded there." he complained. "All of the rooms had too many of us in them and we have to share beds and blankets." he added.
"There are babies always crying." Gethwine said sounding annoyed. "The Sisters try to get them to go to sleep but there's always some crying because they need to eat or a changing." she told me.
"Yeah and some of the Sisters can be pretty mean sometimes." Alhwald remarked. "Sister Aelflaed gets really angry pretty easy sometimes even over the smallest things." he told us.
"And even if she isn't the one getting mad I'm tired of all the Sisters spanking us whenever we mess up." said Botilda rubbing her backside briefly.
"Eventually we all got sick of it there so we decided to move to the other side of the town together and start our own gang of bandits instead." said Torphin shrugging his shoulders.
"I see. And how has that worked out for you since you decided to strike out on your own? Have things gotten better?" I asked them.
They were all really quiet for a good long while before any of them finally decided to answer. "It's really cold at night." said Alkeld rubbing her arms as if trying to keep warm.
"And it rains a lot too. Since we all sleep outside now we all get wet and muddy." said Egfrith looking miserable.
"I'll bet your hungry a lot too huh?" I asked feeling bad for these kids.
"Torphin said we should try jumping people and robbing them or simply begging." said Aelfhere looking over at the older boy. "When we try robbing the other grownups they beat us up and chase us away and if we try begging, we hardly get any money at all for food." he explained.
"Kids." I said calmly. "I won't pretend to know exactly what the orphanage is like but is it really worse than how you're living now? At least there you had warm beds and a hot meal. That can't be a bad thing right?" I asked them.
I got a few nods from them. "Sisters Alfilda, Herewynn and Ymma did make really good soup and bread every day." Edilda said smiling at her friends.
"And I'm sure not all the Nuns were mean to you were they?" I asked them.
They all smiled and shook their heads. "No they were nice for the most part." said Saewynn.
"Sister Aelfwyn was always really nice." Ronilda said smiling the brightest. "Whenever one of our toys were broken or our clothes needed sewing she was willing to help." she told her friend.
"Then maybe you all should go back. It sounds like there was plenty of good things about the orphanage too, not just bad." I told them.
"But..." Torphin began but looked away looking ashamed. "But we already decided that we wouldn't go back." he said refusing to look at any of us.
"Torphin, there's nothing wrong with admitting that you made a mistake. We all do. But part of growing up is learning from those mistakes and striving to make things right again." I told him.
He was quiet for a moment and the other kids looked at him, waiting to see what their leader was going to do next. Finally he sighed and looked back up to me. "Will...Will you come back with us?" he asked.
I smiled and looked over to Lyca who did as well. "I think we can take some time out of our busy day and help you all out some sure." I answered.
The walk with the kids was fun. Lyca and I were surrounded by eighteen kids who were all smiles and sunshine. I think the joy came from knowing that the hard days of living on the streets and being hungry all the time were now behind them. But I also think it was having someone who actually gave a damn for them, even if it would be for a short time. As we walked each of the younger kids wanted to take turns riding on my shoulders. While it was a pain in my back I went along with it. Lyca smiled the whole time while kids laughed and played along with us. Knowing her this would only serve to give her a serious case of the baby crazies which means I'm going be a busy man again before we go to bed tonight. There was no getting out it.
Now I was worried at first that we would attract some unwanted attention and while some people did notice us I was relieved to see that most acted uninterested. After about twenty or thirty minutes the kids led us to a larger building that was three stories tall, painted white with wooden beams supporting it. Out on the front there was a woman who resembled a nun. She wore a sky blue dress and a white blouse with a white headdress that covered most of her hair and cheeks. She had blonde bangs over her forehead and shiny blue eyes. Around her neck was a little wooden image of a six winged angel with her head bowed and her hands folded in prayer. If I had to hazard a guess I'd say this must be the religious symbol of the Order of Light.
She was sweeping the stone pathway that started from the streets leading to the front door. As we approached she didn't notice us at first but eventually she looked up and saw the group coming up to her. She looked beyond surprised when she saw us approaching and dropped her broom.
"Torphin, Aelfhere, Alkeld, children where have you been?!" she asked quickly running up to us.
Torphin stood before her but looked down at her feet. "Sister Aelfwyn..." he said sounding ashamed.
"Torphin what is wrong? Please look at me." she said softly and motherly.
He finally couldn't hold back anymore and rushed into her arms. "I'm sorry Sister Aelfwyn, I'm sorry." he cried burying his face into her.
She smiled and hugged him back. "There is nothing for you to be sorry for Torphin. When you and the others disappeared I was so worried but I thank our most holy mother in Heaven that you have returned." she said happily. The other children ran in for her to give them all hugs and kisses as if they were her own. "You poor little dears. You're all filthy and you must be very hungry." she said before finally looking up to the two of us. "And who are these two kind shepherds who have found and returned my lost little lambs?" she asked standing tall and not caring about the stains on her dress.
"My name is Theodore and this is my wife Lyca. We're travelers who've stopped here in Aedorham looking for work and a place to stay before we must move on again." I answered.
"Our most holy mother in Heaven bless you for bringing these young ones back safe and sound to us." she said bowing her head in gratitude. "When I had discovered that they went missing I was so worried and prayed each and every day for their safe return. This day, you have answered my prayers Theodore. I can see the hand of our most holy mother on your shoulder, guiding you." she told me smiling.
"Your holy mother?" I asked.
"Julianna, the Lady of Light and our most holy mother in Heaven. Surely you must know of her." she said acting surprised that I'd even ask.
"I uh, don't really believe in your Goddess. I'm sorry." I told her shrugging my shoulders.
I was surprised to see that she wasn't angry or at all offended by my statement. Her smile never left her face. "That is sad to hear, because she most certainly believes in you Theodore." she said kindly before turning to the rest of the children. "Now everybody, I believe we've dallied long enough outside. Let's go inside, get you all cleaned up and prepare your next meal for you." she told them with all the boys and girls filing up the pathway and into the orphanage. "I will pray that one day, you will see the light Theodore. You and your lovely wife." she said with a nod before directing the children to the front door. As they filed their way up the path, everyone turned back one last time to smile and wave before saying their goodbyes to which we did as well, watching her and the kids close the door behind them.
Lyca looked over to me and smiled after that. "What is it?" I asked not knowing why she was looking at me like that.
She then tackled me in a hug, nearly knocking me over. "Theo you are so wonderful with children." she beamed happily. "I can't wait for when we finally have little puppies together. You're going to make such a wonderful Daddy." she said with a warm and loving smile.
I smiled back at that. "I hope so." I told her, rubbing the back of my neck.
"So what do we do now?" she asked.
"Like I said before, we need to find an inn and I need to get a part time job to pay for our room and evening meal. We should get going." I answered before we both took off.
Of course finding both of these were already proving harder than I had hoped. The both of us would be walking about the town for over an hour and so far I couldn't find anybody who was hiring. Now the good news is that we were able to find a few inns and when I asked I was happy to hear that the rooms weren't as expensive in Merseax as they were in Vinterheim. Two pieces of silver to pay for one guest. So I would need four pieces to pay for the both of us and I would need just a few more to cover our meals tonight. I've tried offering my services to various merchants and store owners and I was always turned down. I've even gone to a stable and offered to feed the horses and scoop them clean and even the stable master had to tell me no.
But just as things started getting really frustrating I heard some bells ringing. And this didn't just grab our attention, everybody in the town square was hearing it. I saw the people immediately moving to form large crowds and soon the both of us were stuck in the middle of hundreds of people. Everyone was talking all at once so I looked over to a man standing next to us.
"Hey what's going on?" I asked him.
The guy was a man probably in his mid to late forties with brown hair and grey eyes who looked over at me to respond. And what he said made my hair stand on end. "It's the Inquisition." he answered.
I felt Lyca take me by the hand getting my attention. "Theo? What is it? What's wrong?" she asked me. I didn't answer because I was still reacting to what the guy told me. "Theo?" she asked me again.
"Lyca, remain calm. We're going to leave the first chance we can but we can't draw any attention to ourselves." I told her trying to keep it together.
"Why what's wrong?" she asked. I didn't answer and we turned to see the reason for the gathering.
In the center of town square there was a large wooden platform. I noticed it before but never thought much about it until now. We watched as several other men brought out a large wooden pole before setting it up in the middle of the platform. The platform itself was about five or six feet high so the pole could be seen by everybody in the square. They also set up several large stacks of kindling and wood at the base so I already had a pretty good idea of what was about to happen. All the while the bells continued ringing loudly. That was when the main attraction finally arrived. Lyca and I were standing about twenty feet away from the platform and we could see a half dozen people filing up the steps off to the side.
The man in the very front was a very slim and tall man. He had chin length black hair with a small patch of hair growing on his chin. He wore white robes that with white sleeves and a ceremonial priest's dress covering his legs. He had a black sash tied around his waist, a black cloak draped over his shoulders and a black hat with a wide brim on his head. There was also a gold necklace around his neck but I couldn't tell what it was. Behind him were several men who resembled knights dressed mostly in black. Their armor was mostly chainmail with black robes covering their torsos, black gloves and boots, black capes over their shoulders and shiny metal helmets with black vails hiding their faces from everyone here.
Each man had a sword on his hip but while two of them had large black teardrop shields and spears, the third one carried a large greatsword in his hands with the blade resting on his right shoulder. I also noticed how both their teardrop shields and their chests had the images of a six winged angel with her head bowed and her hands folded in prayer. Behind them was the man who I can only guess was the guy in trouble with the Inquisition. The man looked to be in his early or mid twenties with light brown hair. He was only wearing a pair of red brown trousers and the poor man looked like he was dragged through ten types of shit in one day. He was just covered from head to toe in cuts and bruises. His left eye was so swollen he couldn't open it.
The last man behind him was a much older man. He looked to be in his late sixties or early seventies and man was he an ugly son of a bitch. The top of his head was completely bald, wrinkly and covered in liver spots. He did however have long, shoulder length grey and white hair that looked oily and dirty. As for his face, imagine if you will if someone tried to create a human by splicing the genes of a weasel, a vulture and a naked mole rat. That's the best way I could describe his face. His old and weathered features and sunken eyes told me that his best days were long long behind him now. He wore a dirty dark grey tunic and matching trousers with leather boots and a dark grey cloak draped over his shoulders with the hood down.
Once they were all gathered on the platform together someone lit a brazier that was set up and soon a small fire was going. Then the man in black and white began to speak. "Good people of Aedorham, I have gathered you all here today to see that justice is delivered." he said loudly in a shrill voice. "That divine punishment be carried out and brought down upon the heads of the sinful and the wicked. For this day, there was hiding among you one who has committed a great and terrible crime. Not just against his fellow man, but against our most holy mother in Heaven herself." he said before turning and gesturing to the man they brought up, now forced to his knees and his head bowed before everyone.
"You may know this man as Harold. He has for many years lived among you and worked as a humble stable master." he said pacing back and forth atop the platform. "But what you did not know was he has committed the greatest perversion in the eyes of our most holy mother in Heaven. He has laid with a monster, a demon and thus defiled his soul. He has been judged and found wanting. By our sacred scriptures, there are several perversions that are the greatest sins in the eyes of our most holy mother in Heaven. For it is written that if a man lays with a beast of the land, another man as though he were a woman or with a demon then it is an abomination and must be cleansed by divine punishment." he declared as though he were preaching.
After that her turned to the beaten man on his knees and spoke to him just loud enough for everyone to hear. "But our most holy mother in Heaven is loving and forgiving." he said looking down at the man kneeling over. "And we, her disciples of the mortal world wish only to show her love and forgiveness to all, even those who sin against her. And Harold, if you are brave enough and willing to accept her forgiveness then here is your chance." he said before turning to look over the crowd before speaking again. "If you confess your sins, if you renounce your love for that vile creature that you laid with and acknowledge that what you did was wrong and if you tell us where she is hiding..." he said before looking to his right and smiling.
The knight carrying the greatsword stepped forward and pointed his weapon downwards with the tip of the blade planted on the platform. "You will be forgiven and granted a swift and painless execution." he said before turning back to the the kneeling man again. "But if you refuse, if you don't repent and confess your sins to our most holy mother in Heaven before everyone gathered here this day, then you must be purified by pain and agony before being sent to your final judgement." he said looking over at the pole and gesturing to the alternative execution. "Now Harold, will you confess? Will you denounce the demon who laid with, tell us where she is and repent for your sins?" he asked with a small yet clearly sadistic smile.
He was quiet for only a moment but it felt much longer than it actually was. The tension was high as everyone, including Lyca and I waited to see what he was going to do. He then spat some blood from his mouth then turned to the priest in black and white with a hard and determined look.
"You can take your offer...and stick it up your bastard ass!" he spat. "I loved her. I did so when she and I first came together, when we decided to start a family together, when you and your lackeys were torturing me and I love her still and will keep loving her right up until my final breath. And I will never tell you where she or our daughters are!" he yelled before gritting his bloody teeth.
His tormentor smiled and sighed at that. "Then I fear that you leave us no choice." he said before turning to his knights.
Two of them walked over, hoisted him off his feet and dragged him over to the pole so tie him to it. All the while Harold yelled on in defiance. "I LOVED HER!" he shouted on and on all while his hands were tied to the post. We then watched on in horror as the old man in dark grey reached into the brazier and picked out a torch before being given the signal and lighting the fire at the man's feet. As the fire grew bigger and hotter he started coughing and screaming in pain. The flames worked their way up his legs, his abdomen and eventually he was fully engulfed in fire and screaming in agony before his screams were finally drowned out in the roar of the flames and soon there was nothing left but his charred remains and the smell of burnt human flesh.
I was frozen where I stood, mouth agape. I just witnessed a poor man publicly burned alive. I remember reading about horrific ways to be executed during the middle ages and burning at the stake was one of them but holy fuck was I not expecting to actually see it. It made me physically sick and want to vomit. That was when I felt Lyca grab hold of my hand which snapped me back to life. I looked over to her and saw the fear in her shiny blue eyes.
"Theo." she said barely louder than a whisper.
"We need to get out of here now. We should never have come to this town." I said lowly, hoping nobody was listening. "Stay close, move quickly but calmly and try not to draw too much attention." I whisper yelled.
She nodded and the two of us turned and started walking away past people, trying to politely move past others so as not to bump into anyone. But this, just like all my other plans immediately failed. We probably didn't make it ten feet before I heard some woman scream. I turned and my heart skipped a beat. Someone had pulled Lyca's hood down revealing her wolf ears and giving it away. Instantly people started backing away from us and I knew right there and then we were screwed.
"Werewolf!" a man shouted, pointing at Lyca.
I quickly came to her side and while I didn't draw my sword I did have my hand on the hilt. "Let's remain calm." I said sternly but felt a bead of sweat running down the side of my face.
Nobody else looked like they wanted to start anything but I heard the voice of the man in black and white. "It would seem that there are more sinners and monsters among us." he said loudly. Both of us turned to seem him stepping forward with his dark eyes glued onto us like we were rabbits who wondered into the fox's hunting grounds. "A Werewolf here in Aedorham. I always knew packs of these filthy beats were common here in the Northern Realms, along with those disgusting Orcs but I didn't expect to find one so close to such a populated town. Truly, we have let our guard down." he said bringing his hand to his head and closing his eyes briefly, as if he was ashamed of everyone and everything. He then turned his gaze to me and those eyes of his made my skin crawl.
"And you must be the poor soul she had bewitched. I wonder, did she force herself upon you or did you lay with her willingly?" he asked me.
"And who are you to care who I sleep with?" I asked back with my hand still on the hilt of my blade.
"Oh holy mother in Heaven, forgive me for forgetting my manners." he said with a mock bow. "I am Inquisitor Ricfried. A Priest in service to our most holy mother in Heaven and appointed by Arch Bishop Philip De La Pluce in the sacred task of rooting out and destroying heretics, pagans and of course..." he says before eyeing Lyca again. "Monsters." he says in a low husky growl.
"Look, Lyca and I haven't done anything to you or anyone here in Aedorham so just let us be." I told him.
"Ah but that young man, is where you are mistaken." he said holding up a finger to make his point. "For have you not read the Scriptures of the Divine Light? Do you not know what our most holy mother in Heaven says about those who lay with demons and monsters? Are you even a man of faith?" he asked with a twisted smile.
"If you're asking me if I'm religious I'll say I was born and raised in a Catholic family but honestly, I'm not the most devout Catholic. I eat meat on Fridays and I can't remember the last time I went to confession. I'd say I'm probably more of an agnostic than anything else." I answered.
I immediately realized how stupid I must have sounded because everybody else was looking at one another with WTF written all over their faces. I had once again forgotten that nobody here would know or understand the religions of my world so naturally none of them knew what the fuck I was talking about.
"So not only do you lay with monsters and demons but you're also a heretic." Ricfried continued. He then raised his hands as if to continue with his annoying preaching. "Good people of Aedorham, bear witness. This man and the vile creature he lays with are not only sinners in the eyes of our most holy mother in Heaven but they come to deceive and endanger us all. Spreading lies and wickedness with every word and they defile with every step." he said before reaching into his robes and pulling out a glass vile. This caused a gasp within the crowd and for everyone to step back. "It is written "There is no greater enemy among you than the false prophet, he who spins webs of lies like spiders seeking the weak to devour. But the Heavenly are not afraid. For they wield within their right hand a flaming sword of truth and justice. And they will smite the wicked and plunge them into eternal suffering."!" he shouted before splashing what looked and felt like water on me.
It only got on my clothes, leaving a wet spot but everyone, even Ricfried gasped in response when...nothing happened. The Inquisitor looked at the bottle in his hand and back at me with his mouth hanging wide open and disbelief written all over his face.
"I...I-I-I don't understand!" he stammered. "The holy water touches his skin yet his flesh, it doth not burn." he said still looking at the vile of water in his grasp.
That was when a young woman stepped out from the crowd. "Inquisitor Ricfried, what does this mean?" she asked him.
Another man came forward looking just as baffled. "And what about my cousin? You had him put to death last week but was he really guilty of what you charged him with?!" he asked sounding angry as well as confused.
And that was when the tension finally exploded with everyone practically forgetting all about Lyca and I before they swarmed the Inquisitor and all of them asking hundreds of questions at once. Ricfried tried to restore some semblance of order but he was soon overwhelmed by the large crowd. Not wanting to waste any more time, I grabbed hold of Lyca's paw and we bolted leaving everyone behind. We both ran as fast as our legs could carry us. I looked behind once or twice and just my luck, nobody was chasing us or seemed to even notice that we were gone. Now all we had to do was keep our heads down and get the fuck out of here. The both of us turned the corner leaving the town square and then ran around another building.
We were both now panting in an alleyway. "What do we do now Theo?" Lyca asked me sounding worried.
"We need to wait for things to calm down. Then we're leaving this place for good and we're going to put as much distance between Aedorham and us as humanly possible." I answered in between gasps.
"And where are we supposed to go?" she asked tilting her head.
"I...I don't know Lyca." I admitted. "I honestly don't know. I don't think that the Kingdom of Merseax is safe for us anymore. We can't stay here, that's all I'm certain of." I explained.
That was when we both heard a pssst. We heard it again and looked to see there was someone around the corner of the building across from us and he was waving us over to him while still hiding from our sight. Every fiber of my bones told me that this was a bad idea but we were desperate and so against my better judgement we both ran over to the man behind the corner. Once we reached him I was shocked to see who it was. The elderly man all dressed in dark grey clothing and robes looking at us both briefly before looking around the corner to check nobody was following us.
"Listen to me Son, there isn't much time." he said in a low and gravelly voice. "But you and your pretty little wife are in grave danger now." he said as he locked both his eyes with ours.
"I saw you up on the platform earlier. You were the one who executed the other man." I replied glaring at him in disgust.
"Yes I am the town's local Executioner but that's not important now. What's important is that you need help." he told me.
"Why would we trust you? Both of us just watched as you lit a man on fire by the Inquisitor's command and then just stand by as he burned alive." I said crossing my arms.
"I guess you don't." he said shrugging his shoulders. "But I'm offering to help you and right now I'm the only chance you both have at escaping with your lives. There's no time to argue, do you want my help or not?" he asked me.
"Theo?" Lyca asked me when I didn't answer right away.
I really didn't like the situation we were in. On the one hand there's an Inquisitor who wants to do lord only knows what to me and on the other hand, the only person offering to "help" us is the local Executioner of the town. The very guy who's job it is to kill people. No rational man would trust someone like him after what I've seen. But losers can't be choosers and the only thing that mattered to me right now was getting the fuck out of here.
"What would you have me do?" I asked after sighing out of frustration and hoping that I wasn't going to regret this.
"At the end of this road there's a place called the Red Rooster Inn." he said before reaching into his purse at his hip, pulling out a few pieces of silver and offering them to me which I accepted. "This should be enough for a table and a meal. Pick a seat in the corner and out of sight and wait for me there. Make sure nobody is following you and do not leave that place until I've come for you. There's a lot to talk about Son." he said before turning around, pulling his hood up and walking away. "Remember, the Red Rooster Inn. Wait for me there and I'll explain everything." he told us.
Lyca and I shared one last glance, nodded our heads in understanding and started moving quickly down the road with our hoods up and making sure to remain in the shadows and that nobody was following us. All the while I was praying that I didn't make a huge mistake here and led us both to our deaths.
[Author's Notes] I am so happy I was able to get this chapter up much much sooner than the last one. I can't tell you how hard it was for me to get the time considering I'm moving very soon but now that I've got this chapter up I can breath a little easier. I really hope you guys enjoy it.
You're all probably wondering what happened near the end, what's about to happen and just how much trouble Theo and Lyca are in now with the Inquisition. Well I'll tell you this much, this whole arc will be about the both of them on the run from the Order with Inquisitor Ricfried on their tails. Also, Theo will be meeting his second wife very very soon. I hope you guys are excited for that. I can't wait for you to read about her. She's honestly one of my favorites.
As always thank you all so much for reading my stories. I'm very pleased to say that recently my story as exceeded 200 reviews! This is awesome. The more reviews I can get the better because it's a huge motivator for me to keep going. And if you guys wanna chat in a PM sometime feel free to contact me to share ideas or just talk. I love talking with my readers and try to respond to all my messages.
This is Dragon1990 signing out :-)