Tale of Four

Out on the road, Isis looked back at Cras, ripping the blindfold off, finally able to see properly. On the walls of the city, she saw the faceless soldiers, watching the two as they walked off and couldn’t help but frown.

”How long will that mask protect us?” Seth carefully took it off, staring at the mask with a strange look.

”As soon as we left the city limits. They won’t do anything to us within sight of it, but once we get further and they can cover it up, they will send people after us. I might be able to live, but you, Isis. Either they will get their money back for the damages or make an example out of you. Two fates that I wouldn’t wish for.” Isis lowered her head and sighed.

”What is that mask? And everything you said and how you said. Is it like the sigil of a Lord in Veston?” Seth shook his head and put it back into his bag.

”Similar, but no. Where this comes from, every man and woman owns one, no matter rank. My one is special because of its design. To compare it to Veston, a commoner would have a plain white mask, while these patterns are like a family sigil.” Isis stared at Seth, and seeing she didn’t want to drop the topic, and with no real way to brush it aside, he sighed, ”My teacher was Lunarian, a noble of Luar to be precise. Their customs are different to Veston’s. As he had no children, he could hand his title to whoever he deemed fit, so long as they took the moon as their God, or were Lunarian. He gave me this. Said it would help me if I ever needed to get crafting materials. Although it’s a rule, I don’t particularly hold their God in any regard as did my teacher.”

”So you’re a noble?”

”In name only. My teacher handed all his lands to the ruling council, knowing neither I nor he really cared for them. He kept his title, which I now have, but it was a formality more than anything.” Isis narrowed her eyes, finding everything about Luar strange. Shaking her head, she looked back at Cras.

”It still doesn’t explain why they were so fearful of the mask. On the map, I could see Luar was the furthest place west.” Seth chuckled.

”Luar’s history is one of blood. Did you think everything I said when he asked me to prove I was real was mere phrases? In Oros, there are three groups who are more trouble than they are worth to deal with: the Farasgon nobility, the fanatics of Lady Death and the Lunarians or those under their protection. For the Lunarians, it is because they are extremely protective of their kin and of those who worship the moon, stemming from their founding. If it were found I was held against my will in the city, Luar’s ruling council would likely call for an invasion of the city and destroy it if they refused to release me, even if my claims to them are old. If I were dead, they would try to destroy it to set an example.”

”Old? How old?” Isis asked, getting a playful smirk from Seth.

”Guess.” Isis rolled her eyes but chuckled and realised soemthing.

”If they fear worshippers of Lady Death.” Reaching into her sachal, she pulled out the statue of Lady Death, ”Won’t this be enough to deter them?” Seth looked at it for a moment before looking at Isis, his eyes widening.

”It could. I mean, you are a chronicler and carry a holy relic. The only problem is, now that I pulled the mask, it wouldn’t work on those guys.” Seth replied.

”Why?”

”Because if you were a worshiper, by your standard, you should kill me for preaching a false God and definitely not travel with me,” Seth replied coolly, earning a nod from Isis. ”Anyway, you don’t know enough about the religion to get away with it.”

”A shame.” Peeking back at Cras, her mind spun, ”We need to prepare for them to chase us.”

”I need to prepare.” Seth corrected her and rubbed the back of his head, ”We’ll walk for a while, if I remember correctly, this path passes through some forest. We’ll rest there.” Isis nodded, and the two picked up the pace, rushing to the resting point before anyone from Cras could chase.

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Isis leaned against a tree and watched as Seth hammered a small metal tube covered in runes into a tree, before placing his hand over it and activating it. Once he did, milky liquid flowed out into the pouch he held underneath. As the tree noticeably changed, the bark loosened, and the leaves browned. Taking a sip, he handed it over to Isis next, who greedily drank half of it.

”Tastes like wood,” Isis said without complaint, instead finding the taste quite refreshing. Seth smiled and took the pouch, taking a sip.

”What that thing does is it sucks the nutrients out of the wood and converts it into soemthing you can drink. The first lesson I ever learnt when travelling was always have a source of water and food, especially if you must camp.” Isis nodded to the agreement and looked up through the treeline at the night sky.

”Do you think they will come?”

”It’s only a matter of time. Luckily for us, they won’t be too aggressive. If we can deal with whatever they send now, then they will likely assume I have met up with a group of Lunarians to take me back safely.” Seth happily said, pouring himself more of the liquid from the tree.

”Then we should prepare.”

”Yeah. I’m going to go around and set up some runes around the ground. Can you make a bird noise?” Asking, Isis thought for a moment and mimicked an owl. Although it was a poor attempt, Seth nodded, ”Climb a tree and keep watch. You see something in the distance, make the sound.” Coming over, he let Isis onto his shoulders and helped her up onto one of the trees.

With a final nod to one another, he walked into the dark forest with only his pen, leaving Isis with a good look at the road from Cras. After an hour and a half, she saw soemthing. Leaning forward, she clicked her tongue, seeing a bunch of horses in torchlight and sounded the signal.

”Isis.” Seth quickly returned and followed her gaze, trying to see but failing. ”How many can you make out?” Isis watched for a moment as the distant shadows became clearer.

”Ten, no, a little more, I think.” Seth clicked his tongue and fell into thought.

”Stay up there out of sight and silent.” With his words, he turned around, walking back into the darkness of the forest.

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Stroking the barrel of his hand cannon, Seth looked at the approaching party. As Isis said, it was more than 10, coming out to seventeen riders. Crouching down and picking up a few branches, he turned behind him and saw the path to one of his traps. Counting the seconds, he walked towards it and snapped the branches the moment the group was close enough to hear.

The party, bar the master, didn’t show fear; instead, two of the blank-faced soldiers walked out, weapons raised, and slowly approached. Seth silently moved around, using the tress as cover, placing himself into the path of a second rune he set.

Watching, he saw as the two stepped on the circuits of runes he had left. The first to activate from the pressure they place on it was the silence rune, followed by the weakening. With the weakening rune activated, the ground caved in around the two, dragging them down, the surrounding dirt falling atop them, making a silent grave that the rest of their party didn’t hear.

Looking back on them, he counted the shots on his hand cannon and took aim toward a soldier with one right behind them. With a deep breath, he held the air in his lungs for a moment, pointing it towards the man’s neck, knowing it would be where his bullet would have the lowest resistance.

His hand didn’t shake, and pulling the trigger, he finally let out the air he had been holding in, watching the condensed arcane power silently fly forward, piercing through the man’s neck, and hitting the one behind him, clutching his throat and groaning in pain.

Slipping backwards, he avoided the trap he had set and hid behind it, as the group turned in the direction the attack came from. Four more men approached, making sure to split up and search the general area. Silently groaning, he crouched down, picked up a stone, and threw it behind his trap and checked how many shots were left.

’Four. I didn’t have enough time to recharge it.’ The stone bounced, and the men turned in that direction. The one incharge stepped back and looked at the other three, nodding for them to investigate. Using the opportunity, Seth circled around.

’I need them to split and believe there are more of us.’ Standing directly north of the master, he fired another shot, killing a second soilder, before making his way around west and firing a third. ’Two shots, but that’s six.’

Throughout the forest, Seth watched as the master screamed into the darkness, calling his men to reform around him, his head snapping around in paranoia, trying to figure out where the next shot would come from. Seth stalked them and saw that, of the four who went to search, only two returned. ’Eight.’

Checking the two shots he had left, he clicked his tongue and waited, hoping it was enough. The master scanned the area and his remaining guards, clearly unsure about what to do. Seth raised the hand cannon towards him. Pointing it at his head, he lowered the barrel and aimed just in between his legs towards the seat and fired, hoping the warning would be clear.

Silently, like the grim reaper, the arcane bullet tore through the wooden carriage, sending splinters into the fat master’s legs. The man’s face went deathly pale as he froze on the spot, only able to stare down after a few minutes. Seeing the bullet hole, he looked in the direction from which the shot came and gulped, signalling with his hand for the survivors to turn around and escort him home.

Seeing them leave behind the horses of the dead men, Seth sighed in relief and sat down, leaning against a tree, bouncing the hand cannon on his leg.