Chapter Six- (When one fortnight passes . . .)
Hawk fought the bitter wind. He had forgotten how cold Altena was, outside the walls of the city. He kept going over the words of the demon.
(When one fortnight passes we will scatter her bones to the wind . . .)
A fortnight. Two weeks. One had already passed, and the second was well on it's way. It was already Gnome's Day.
Hawk glanced up, ignoring the sting of snowflakes, and saw a light through the blizzard.
That must be the castle. I'm almost there . . . He stumbled and tripped over a rock, and then the Sahugins ambushed him. He rolled over onto his back, fighting off the fish-people while he struggled to get up.
When he stood they scattered, leaving three dead. Hawk continued on towards the light, and stopped when he stepped on something crunchy-
-fallen leaves. He glanced up, and saw a fruit tree almost glowing green with foliage.
The trees lined the valley. The eternal spring of Altena was back, and this time extended beyond the walls. But not very far.
Altena was the last place Jessica could be, short of the Dragon's Den or any of the other nesting places of evil.
Hawk got to the gate and collapsed against it, exhausted. He stood there until a guard spotted him.
Which took about five minutes. "You down there! State your name- oh. It's Hawk." She turned and yelled at the gatekeeper. "Let him in!"
The gate slowly creaked open, and Hawk walked in. He grinned at all the people gathered to greet him, and then made his way towards the inner castle, to talk to the Queen of Reason.
Valda was not happy. Her daughter had run, and she had not heard from the soldiers sent after her for three days.
They had been punctual, sending updates every other day. She could only assume something had happened to them, and only hope they were not dead but instead on their way back.
But they would still send messages- "Oh. Hawk." Valda straightened in her throne as Hawk bowed.
"May I stay here for the night?"
Just a routine visit, then. The Queen of Reason sighed. "Of course. The gates of Altena are always open to the Warriors of Mana."
"Thank you." Hawk bowed again and turned to leave.
Koren entered the room.
They stared at each other for a second, and then Koren bolted for the door. Hawk caught him by the cape and pulled him back.
"What," Hawk demanded, "are you doing here?"
"N-nothing!" Koren said, shaking a little and fighting the urge to panic. "Just- just living . . ."
"Then why did you run?" Hawk shook Koren fiercely.
"I-I wasn't expecting you to be here . . ."
"The feeling's mutual." Hawk dropped Koren, and Koren lay sprawled over the ground thanking the Goddess Hawk didn't know about Jessica. But Hawk wasn't finished.
"Jessica." he growled.
Koren, who had been getting up, froze. "What- what about her?"
Hawk noted the reaction and then shrugged. "Nevermind. I'm going to my room for the night." He paused. "May I choose my room?"
Valda nodded. "Of course."
Koren, an eternal opportunist, had left the room.
Hawk chose the room next to Koren's, and sat on the bed thinking far after dusk. The clock had struck deep night when the door to Koren's room creaked open. Soft footsteps sounded down the hallway, the noise of someone trying to be quiet when they had not had much practice.
Hawk didn't have that problem. He trailed Koren down the winding halls and deep into the dungeons of Altena Castle.
And then Koren vanished.
Koren hurried across the cold stone floors, never stopping. He had memorized the route to Jessica's current quarters.
A scream cut through his mind and Koren dropped to his knees, covering his head with his arms.
The daemon-wolf screamed again. (Koren you fool! You have led Hawk to her! We shall kill you and her and Hawk all, but first her! Hawk cannot be allowed to possess her!)
Then another scream, a woman's scream, this one shattering the air. Koren scrambled to his feet and ran. He was almost there . . . not too late, please . . .
He shoved the door open and saw the wolf shaking Jessica like a doll. The screaming stopped in a choked gurgle, but the silence was much worse.
"No!" Koren screamed. "Why did you kill her? Why?! What did she do that merits death? Why don't you just kill Hawk?"
(We will, eventually . . . . But now her power is ours . . .) The demon dropped Jessica and leaned towards Koren. (There is great power in death and agony. But you know this. He comes.)
The demon laughed, and faded into the air, leaving Koren kneeling over Jessica's mangled body and crying. He had treated her like a daughter, knowing that her life was in his hands, and now the only thing he could do for her was give her a decent burial.
Hawk burst into the room. He saw Koren, blood soaked, standing over Jessica's corpse. His first reaction was rage.
"Koren!! What the hell did you do to her?!" he shrieked, and, knives drawn, attacked.
Koren stepped backwards in panic and then backed up against the stone wall, shaking. "I-I tried to save her! It- it . . . don't kill me . . . please . . ." Koren collapsed onto the ground, sobbing. "I tried . . . I tried . . ."
Hawk stopped, one of his knife blades inches from Koren's head. He withdrew it and glared at Koren. He began to talk, paused, stepped forwards and slipped in a pool of blood.
Lying facedown, Hawk stared at Jessica's corpse as if seeing it for the first time. When he stood back up, he cradled Jessica in his arms and left the room, picking his way up out of the dungeon.
Koren left much later.
After the funeral, Hawk disappeared. An hour later, a soldier found him locked up in the mausoleum with Jessica's coffin, crying silently.
FWAHAHAHA!! Y'all knew it was coming. Next Chapter: Kevin
