Chapter 5: Time To Be Gone
Garc lead Dan and Flusk into an inn down the street. When they got inside, Garc got Flusk a tourniquet for his hand. He needed to explain the details of their journey to Flusk, and standing outside of a burning inn hardly seemed the right place. Dan had been quiet the whole walk back to Whitebridge. Garc felt concerned about Dan, he didn't eat that night and made it clear he had no intention to eat anything for a while. When they saw the inn on fire, Garc could almost see Dan cringe. The burning inn looked too much like the burning farmhouse that claimed the lives of Dan's parents. The decision to bring Flusk along on the journey to Caemlyn had been Garc's choice. Dan refused to answer anything Garc asked him and only nodded or shook his head as responses. Dan's sea green eyes seemed to blaze with furry and hatred. Garc flinched the first time he looked into Dan's eyes on their way back to the city. It could not be healthy to hold in that much hatred. If he held it in for long, it would consume his whole personality and make him as unsocial as a crazy man.
They reached The Proud Lion and took a table in the back. No one ordered food or drink. Flusk had begun rubbing his temples and leaning his head back since they entered the inn.
"As you know, we're on our way to Caemlyn, and I thought you might want to know why." Garc said as nicely as he could. He then proceeded with telling Flusk about the farm and how Dan's parents were killed. During the whole explanation Garc could see the fire in Dan's eyes growing until they looked as if they would explode from his head and set fire to the whole inn. Burning buildings seem to be in style nowadays… Garc thought to himself with a frown. Flusk was paying attention, but only half attention because he was constantly rubbing his head. "So you see I have… Are you alright?" Garc said as Flusk yelled and threw his head back.
"Yes… yes I'm fine Garc go on." Flusk said with a wince as he leveled his head and breathed in slowly. He must have been hit quite hard amidst the chaos in the inn before to have a headache that bad.
"Well I have family in Caemlyn and that's why we're headed that way. It's the only place me and Dan can go, considering Dan has no one left and my parents are my only living relatives." Garc explained more calmly than he felt. Any reference to Dan's deceased parents made Garc wince for fear that Dan might go crazy. Garc told Flusk about the long trip and how they had already stocked up on food for the trip. He told Flusk it should take about a week to reach Caemlyn if they were lucky, the weather willing. Tomorrow was as good a time as any to begin their trip, so Garc told Flusk to get some sleep tonight and meet him and Dan at the Whitebridge itself at first sun tomorrow morning. Flusk nodded and went to the innkeeper to rent a room, and then he went upstairs. Garc went to the innkeeper as well and got a room for Dan and himself. When they got to their room Dan didn't take a bed, he stood by the window and stared out with the moonlight casting his shadow across the room. Garc sighed as he heaved himself into bed. Dan is going to take a while to get over this, and I don't know how to help him. Garc thought sullenly as he closed his eyes for rest.
In the morning Garc woke to find Dan standing in the same position as he had left him in last night staring into the sun-lit window.
"Dan you need rest, you can't just ignore it." Garc said as lightly as he could manage. But Dan didn't respond, he just stood there without blinking. He looks almost un-human. Garc thought sadly as he got up to change and wash up. In the common room, they got a table and some breakfast. Garc had to order Dan's breakfast, he just wouldn't talk. They took a table by the stairs and Garc ate his meal hungrily. Dan barely touched his food, but hunger made him finish it all. When they were done, Garc handled the pay for the night and the meals and they headed out toward the Whitebridge. The sun had been up for about an hour by the looks of it so he hoped Flusk was a patient man. As they rounded the corner to the Whitebridge, Garc saw Flusk standing right where he had thought he'd be, leaning against the side of the bridge. But he was not alone. With him was a short man with brown hair and brown eyes. He was leaning against the bridge as well, and he had a sword buckled to his belt. His eyes scanned the crowd in an observing manner, but he thumbed his sword while doing so, giving him the look of a guard. As Garc approached, he could see that Flusk was still rubbing his head. Flusk looked up at Dan with weary red eyes. It was quite clear that he hadn't got much more sleep than Dan. That headache really must be bad. Garc thought.
"Who's you're friend?" Garc said when he got to Flusk. Flusk blinked and turned around to look at the man, then he turned back to Dan and spoke.
"Oh, Kalor. He's a friend of mine. He has decided to take the trip with us, he saved my life last night, you can trust him." Flusk said with a grateful look for Kalor and then rubbed his head again. Garc nodded to Kalor, who smiled back and shook Garc's hand. He extended his hand out for Dan but Dan just watched it like he would a rock. Dan had been eyeing Kalor dangerously since the moment they turned the corner. Obviously Dan didn't believe Flusk that he could be trusted. Kalor shrugged and went back to observing the crowd.
"So are we ready to move out?" Garc said as merrily as he could. "It's a long trip and I don't see any reason to stick around any longer."
"Yes, we should get going." Flusk said as he patted something in his coat pocket. Dan noticed that Flusk too had a sword buckled to his belt. He had never worn a sword before. I guess the attack on his inn last night heightened his security senses a bit. So the four of them set out along the Whitebridge toward the road to Caemlyn. During the first hour, Kalor had talked about his past, and how he used to be a merchant's guard. He spoke of places he'd been and the fight's he'd been in. He claimed to have been as far as far south as Illian, and as far east as Caemlyn. He said he had friends in Caemlyn that he wanted to visit. And since he heard Flusk was going he had decided to tag along. Kalor did look as if he knew how to use his sword, but Garc was fairly sure he could beat Kalor in a fight if it ever came to it. Flusk's sword looked completely out of place at his hip, like an ornament for show. Garc had noticed that Flusk never took his medallion with his name of it off. It must really mean something to him for him to constantly wear it. They walked all through the day with only one five-minute break for some food. They had brought dried cheese and crackers and fresh frozen water for the trip. A week of only crackers to eat would thin them all to the bone, but it was all Garc had to bring. Now it was night and the sun was long gone below the horizon. Kalor suggested they camp out in the forest a bit, away from the main road. It was a logical reason so Garc and Flusk agreed and they went into the forest a hundred yards and set up a camp in the clearing. There was no tent or a blanket, that was one thing Garc had regretted forgetting, so Kalor made a fire and they huddled around it. The days were cold enough, but the nights could kill you if you stayed in the open without warmth.
"Good thing Kalor here has experience with living outdoors, or else we would go without fire tonight." Garc said in a joking way. Flusk laughed softly and fed more sticks to the fire.
"At least my head stopped hurting, that was killing me all yesterday." Flusk said with a grin, though Garc was sure he wasn't grinning about it yesterday. Dan again said nothing, and just stared into the fire, which reflected in his eyes. He scared Garc the way he looked. Garc tried to lift his spirits.
"Cheer up Dan, we're on our way to Caemlyn, we got plenty of food, and we have warmth from the fire." Garc said spreading his arms for emphases. Just then thunder rolled across the sky and tiny droplets began to fall from the sky. The tiny droplets soon turned into big drops of water that rained down mercilessly, snuffing out the fire and drenching the 4 of them. "I'm going to sleep now." Garc said simply as he walked over to a tree and sat against it in the shade of it's leaves. Flusk and Kalor did similarly with other trees, but Dan stayed where he sat and stared where there used to be a fire. "Oh Dan come on, come out of that rain, you'll get yourself killed staying out there." Garc said throwing his hands up. Dan stayed where he was and no one was going to move him. Garc just decided to sleep, but he was careful not to think on the dreams he had the other day. It was the same night that Dan had his strange dream, and it could not be a coincidence. In Garc's dream, He and Dan were running through a bitch black tunnel. He didn't know why he was running, he just knew that if he didn't make it all the way to the other side that he'd die. Suddenly his foot didn't land on ground, but instead stepped into a hole and his whole body fell through also. Suddenly he was in a room, with pure white walls and only black lines at the corners to show that the whiteness didn't extend forever. In the center of the room Flusk was standing with his hand stretched out toward something, a reddish orb that was suspended in the air. Flusk's eyes showed desire, need, and desperation. He yearned for what ever was in the red orb, and he would not let anything get in his way. Suddenly he noticed Garc watching and he screamed at Garc.
"You cannot protect me from this!" He shouted with his hand still outstretched toward the red orb. "I realize the consequences! But I need it! I won't let you stop me!" He yelled as he grasped the red orb. Gusts of wind sprang out from the orb and threatened to knock Garc off his feet. The red from the orb poured into Flusk through his arm and began filling into the rest of his body. Flusk grabbed the red orb with his other hand and began drinking from the color with that hand also. The red inside him continued filling him until the red in Flusk was trying to explode out of him. "I NEED ALL OF IT!" Flusk screamed as the red swelled inside him and exploded out.
Garc shuddered at the remembrance. It scared him that Flusk would want something so much that he'd destroy himself to have it. He seemed like such a calm person, greed did not seem to fit Flusk as a personality. Well Garc would keep a look out for red orbs and white rooms. He would not let that dream become reality, no matter how odd. Garc sat up quickly and closed his eyes. He scanned through the dream again. He knew he missed something the first time. When Flusk was absorbing the color there was another man present in the room. Garc had not caught it the first time through because he was too focused on Flusk. There was a man draped in black, but he wasn't like the man on horseback that Dan and he had seen, because his black cloak flowed in the gusts of wind the orb produced. His hood did not cover his face, yet the man's face was blurry for some reason. The man was watching Flusk draw from the orb and grinning. His grinning turned to crazed laughing as Flusk grabbed the orb with his other hand. Garc wondered why the man was ecstatic about Flusk absorbing the red from the orb, but then again dreams always did leave Garc wondering. Garc didn't like lack of knowledge; he always had to know more about something than someone else did. And when the other person knew more than him, he tried to change the subject to something he understood better. Dan still sat outside in the rain and Garc gave up trying to talk him out of staying out there.
"Dan either you get up and out of the rain now or I'm going to have to make you move." Garc said walking towards Dan. Before Garc had finished talking, Dan leapt up and had his sword drawn toward Garc. "Now Dan, no is not the time for a spar, besides these are real swords and someone could actually get hurt." Dan still stared at him, and for a moment Garc thought he really would have to fight Dan, but Dan sheathed his sword and stalked over to a tree and sat. Garc sighed in relief and went back to his own tree.
The next morning, Garc woke to the sun in his eyes. He rubbed his eyes and saw that Kalor and Flusk were already up and scattering the campsite so no one would know they were here. Dan was awake but he stood with his back against the tree watching the forest edge. They had a quick breakfast and were off again. They had a similar routine every day, minus the almost death match with Dan. Some days it would rain, someday it would be continual sunshine, and one day there were constant gales that would throw dust in their eyes. This went on for about a week until one morning after setting out for the day, Garc topped a hill and saw the walls of a city. From the high point of the hill, Garc could see clearly over the walls and into the town. It was just as he had remembered it all that time ago. The shackled buildings, the muddy unpaved streets, the half broken wall. This was not Caemlyn, but the other's seemed to think it was.
"Ah, Caemlyn, just as I remember it." Kalor said spreading his hands apart.
"Is this really Caemlyn?" Flusk said curiously. Garc quirked an eyebrow at Kalor and Kalor dropped his hands and looked at the ground. Garc was sure that Kalor had never been to Caemlyn before if he thought this run down city could match Caemlyn, and now Kalor knew that Garc knew.
"No, to both of you. This is Four Kings, a city a little west of Caemlyn." Garc explained. "This city is no good for anybody, rich or poor. Luckily we look poor enough that we might go unnoticed." Garc said as he held out a part of his shirt. They did look quite poor, with not a lot to carry and week old clothes that looked slept in. The clothes were torn in some places and their hair was all dirty. "We will have to pass through this city to get to Caemlyn." Garc went on explaining. "It might be wise to wash up and spend a day in this city. Then we can leave for Caemlyn in the morning and get there by nightfall." It was a logical plan, though Garc didn't like it. This city had the highest crime rate besides Ebou Dar. The lack of a proper city guard was the reason, and that was because the city was so poor that not even its ruler could pay for one. Most of the people in the city were poor, and they were used to it. Cutpurses would have a field day if any one even resembling a noble were to enter the city.
"I don't like this place." Flusk said as he gripped his medallion.
"Me neither, but we'll have to stay here for the day." Garc replied with a disgusted look at the city. Garc, Flusk, Kalor, and Dan proceeded towards Four Kings down the road. As they approached the city gates, which weren't very impressing, no one came to greet them or even acknowledge them. No city guard. Garc thought with a sigh. The streets were muddy because of the weeks rain, and people moved about with difficulty in the thick mud. They looked just as Garc had remembered them, all down-spirited with the look of a defeated people. This city did no good for Garc's disposition, or Dan's for that matter. Dan seemed sadder and more withdrawn from the moment they entered the city. The chill in the air had everyone clutching their cloaks tightly to themselves and hurrying to be inside as soon as possible. Finding a place to stay for the night was a top priority, so Garc meandered about the streets looking for signs of an inn. The streets really were crowded with people, even if they were a defeated people; they still had business to attend to. At the time it seemed many of them had places to go with the amount of people in the streets.
"It may be wise to take alleyways instead of the main streets." Kalor advised.
"The alleys are probably full of bandits and cutpurses Kalor, you should know that." Garc responded with a frown.
"That may be true, but it's faster to travel than in the main streets, and besides, only a fool would attack four armed men." Kalor said triumphantly as he cradled his sword hilt. Garc sighed and nodded reluctantly. Slow and steady wins the race. Garc thought remembering an old saying. So the four of them slipped into an alleyway. Garc did admit that it was faster traveling, and at every mouth of an alleyway, Flusk went out to look down the main road and check for an inn. The alleys were filthy and smelled horrid. No wonder no one comes down here. They rounded a corner and walked down the fourth narrow alleyway. As they were halfway down it, three men stepped out into the mouth of the alleyway and faced the four of them. They held daggers extended and the middle one addressed Garc's group in a shaky voice.
"Just hand over all the coins you got and you won't be harmed." The man said as steadily as he could, which wasn't very steady because his extended arm was shaky. He was obviously new to the whole thief thing. The two men behind him didn't look much more confident than the first. Flusk looked down at his belt and saw his purse strapped to it. Flusk hastily put his purse of money in his pocket and coughed. Garc sighed, Flusk just had to keep his money out where people could see didn't he? Garc thought sullenly. Garc half took his sword out of his scabbard when he noticed another man come out of the doors to the narrow alley in-between the three men and Garc's group. The man was wearing a bright white shirt with matching white breeches and white boots, which were slightly brown due to the mud. He looked a little bit younger than forty to Garc. He stood about 5'9" with spiked black hair with white on the tips. His eyes were brown and confident. He wore no weapon, but he faced the three men with an air of authority.
"I'd suggest you leave these four alone, unless you plan to face death so soon in your young lives." He said a deep commanding voice. The three men looked at one another with scared faces. Maybe they were willing to face four men, but five? They looked uneasy and the man in white's attitude certainly had them on edge. "I see you have chosen the path of death, not a very wise choice, but I will make sure that you see the mistake of your choice." Dave said with a smile as he took a step toward the men. The men took a step back and darted quick glances at one another before they fled in the opposite direction. In seconds they had disappeared around a corner, with only the sound of their boots to hear them by. Garc had slid his sword back in its scabbard when the man first appeared, but he was ready as a fox to pull it right back out. It seemed unlikely the man would be an enemy, after he just saved the four of them from a fight, but Dan and Flusk were just as wary. Dan practically snarled at the man. Garc expected nothing less of Dan, he really had been changed. Kalor was the only one who looked relaxed, almost relieved in a way. Garc preferred the diplomatic approach over the fighting one, fighting always ended lives and Garc had seen enough death in the past week for his liking. Garc tried to compose himself as best he could to look calm and in control as he addressed the man.
"Excuse me sir, I thank you for diverting that conflict, but may I ask the name of our rescuer?" Garc said as confidently as he could. The man turned around slowly and surveyed the four of them before he answered.
"You may call me Dave." He answered with a grin that could have belonged on an executioner.
