After discovering the haunting of Mennix, Annastaria returns to town only to find an unwelcome party harrassing Oden and Bastillina. But Jodel has more than a threat against them, but to show them who Annastaria really is...
The rain had stopped, leaving Mennix with just a dreary overcast by the middle of the day. Rolek and Oden remained in the inn with Bastillina close by, waiting for Annastaria to come back. Deputies and innkeepers were tending the damage while they contemplated how to contact authorities over it. Magical destruction was something that made the Oenian authorities reluctant to come to these parts.
One of the deputies came towards the three after about an hour. Bastillina dreaded their approach, feeling the scorn they hid for her. “Well,” he began with a sigh, “we’re going to have to call the authorities at some point.”
“If there’s anything we can do,” Oden said, “any money we can give to help fix this place, please let us know. Otherwise, it’s probably best if we left.”
The man didn’t respond immediately, pausing to think. It made Rolek nervous. “We’ll see.” he said, “We can’t make any major decisions without all the deputies present, which means we have to wait for Gerdan to return. Just sit tight for now.” After he finished, he left them alone again.
Bastillina was given a jacket by someone, and she wore it over herself to cover her left arm. She didn’t want to see it, and she knew some of the dark veins were appearing on her right. She kept feeling the need to rub her arms, as though they itched. Oden saw her discomfort.
“You okay?” he asked.
“My arms.” she said, “It’s like one of those itches that you can’t get. What’s going on with me?”
Rolek remained silent, unsure if he should tell her what it was yet. She would find out eventually, and she had a right to know, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it; something prevented him. Maybe it was the fear of inciting panic in her, and he would rather the burden fall on Erene. Maybe it was because he didn’t know how she could suffer these effects of Corruption so quickly, and telling her she was being gripped by it without telling her how would only make her panic more. He didn’t like not having the answers.
“I shouldn’t have gotten angry.” Bastillina said, catching Oden and Rolek off-guard. She looked up at Oden, “When I yelled at her this morning… I don’t know why I did that. All she did was help me, and kept me safe… And I just yelled at her.”
Rolek rolled his eyes. He was tempted more than ever to tell her the actual truth ‘Erene’ was hiding. It became harder and harder for him to keep it to himself. But another group of men approached them as they sat and waited for an uncertain amount of time. Oden paid them little attention until they were clearly coming towards him, and when he got a look at them, his heart nearly fell in his chest.
“Good morning, friends!” said Jodel with a smile, as he stopped in front of them, and to his right and left was Dean and Harris. Oden wanted to speak, but he couldn’t make words, and sat awkwardly silent. “No words?” Jodel said, “I think you owe me and my friends here at least some form of kind gesture for how long it took to finally catch up.”
Rolek kept himself calm, though he knew seeing these guys again was bad news. “Well you guys look… wet.” he said to them.
Jodel smirked off Rolek’s taunt, “Quite bold coming from a double-crosser.” he said.
“So harsh.” Rolek replied, “But don’t talk as if you guys are all innocent. It’s all business, boys, nothing personal. Although, I never liked guys who highlight their hair into goldy locks.”
“We got nothing more to talk about.” Oden said, looking at Dean.
“Actually we do.” Jodel said. He looked to the room Bastillina was previously staying in, and saw the remains. “What in the gods happened there?”
“None of your business.” Oden struck back, “You three better get lost.”
“Or what? You gonna send your bounty hunter on me? Have you ever stopped to think about how ironic it is that he’s your protector?” He paused a moment, looking at the three of them. “Speaking of protectors… I don’t see the elf here anywhere.”
“That’s also none of your business.”
“I think it should be your business to know who she really is.”
Bastillina’s growing anxiety paused at what Jodel was saying, but she kept quiet, and ready to attack them. “What the hell are you talking about?” Oden asked.
“You ever stopped, just for a moment, to think about who she is? Where she comes from?”
“A few times… But that doesn’t matter.”
“Oh, I think it does, actually.” Jodel replied with a chuckle, “And I bet even Rolek over here has a good idea… Don’t you, Rolek?”
Oden and Bastillina looked at him now. He kept his eyes on Jodel, but could feel their eyes on him. He didn’t know what to say or do, but before anything else could be said, Jodel pulled the glass dagger from his jacket and tossed it onto the table, startling Oden. “What the hell is this?” he asked, taking it in his hand.
“That’s a glass blade.” Jodel answered, “Ever heard of it? If not, I’m sure Rolek can enlighten you both.”
Once again, Oden and Bastillina turned to Rolek for answers. “I don’t get it.” Oden said, “What is this? And why would you know about it?”
Rolek sighed, and hesitated to look Oden in the eye for a moment, “Glass blades are rare.” he answered, “As in, they only come from particular places in the world. They’re made of a special crystal growing in the mountains in the east, northeast and sometimes south. They’re made by the zealots, which they use for their arrows, swords and other weapons.”
A strange silence followed; Oden waited for Rolek to explain further, but it seemed as though that was all he had to say. He looked at Rolek and then Jodel, and back and forth one more time. “What?” he began, “What’s that mean–are you saying Erene is some kind of… zealot? That’s insane! She didn’t tell me where she came from, but–”
“But she came from the east, didn’t she?” Rolek said, leaning towards Oden then, “That’s where one of those clans comes from, you idiot. You didn’t make that connection?”
“And what? This is hers? How can you prove that?”
“Those blades only come from the wood elves, Oden! Where else is your boy over here gonna get one of those?”
The inn’s front doors came open then, and Annastaria and Gerdan rushed in at the sight of the rising smoke. “Enrick!” Gerdan shouted as he came inside, “What happened?”
Oden and Bastillina immediately set their eyes on Annastaria, who looked at the damage and then at Bastillina. Like a mother to a child, Annastaria ran towards her, not even recognizing Jodel and the others. “Are you okay?” she asked, her panic seizing control of her breathing.
Bastillina felt comfort for a moment, and nodded that she was okay. Oden, however, remained quiet, and Jodel watched the scene unfold with amusement. “Speak of the devil.” he said, drawing Annastaria’s attention, “You’re just in time.”
Annastaria looked at Oden once and then back at Jodel, “Who is this?” she asked.
“Me?” Jodel said, “My two friends here are good friends to Oden… Or at least, we were. But maybe we can change that, by showing Oden who the real enemy is here.”
Annastaria looked at Oden again, “What is he meaning?” she asked.
Oden hesitated. he didn’t want to confront Annastaria with anything, he didn’t want to believe anything ill about her, and the whole time he was with her, he never asked about who she was because he was afraid she would cast him away. But he had to this time. With his hand shaking, he set the blade gently on the table, and sat still to let Annastaria see it. Her eyes went wide, and she swallowed, but said nothing for a moment.
“What is this?” she asked.
Oden paused, absorbing the question for a moment. “That’s it?” he said, “That’s all you’re going to say… What’s this doing here? You know what it is, don’t you?”
She looked at Rolek, who refused to get himself into this. As far as he was concerned, she owed it to Oden to tell him the truth. “It is a glass blade.” she answered, keeping herself calm, “A rare type of weapon.” An awkward silence followed.
Jodel could see she wasn’t going to speak further, and he shook his grinning head. “One used by the wood elves,” he added, “Forgot that little part, didn’t you?”
“What are you speaking of, aenman?” she snapped, “And who are you?”
“I think a better question,” Oden intervened, “is who are you?” The words were like a spell, stunning Annastaria. Oden stood out of his seat and squared with her.
“What sort of foolish question is that?” she said back, “How could you ask of me such a thing?”
“That’s not yours?” Oden said, pointing at it.
“Of course it is not!”
Oden paused, and the room fell silent once more. He looked at Rolek, who once again stayed quiet, but his facial expression clearly indicated the judgment he was making in his mind. “If she’s really telling the truth,” Jodel intervened, “then we ought to have a look in her things… Seems fair to me.”
“Leave, fool!” Annastaria snapped again, “I do not know who you are, but you are not welcome here!”
“I think he has a point.” Oden intervened once more, and once again, leaving Annastaria stunned.
“How dare you.” she said, her glare scorning him.
Oden felt the intensity of it, but he pushed it off himself, “You went through my things. You questioned me.”
“Because you lied!”
“And you’re not?” he threw back. Again, the room was silenced. But Oden wasn’t finished, “You know something, Erene, I may have lied–and you’re right–I lied! I lied to you, and I lied to Bella. And because I lied, you had every right to do what you did, for her safety, as well as for whatever else you’re doing, but at least I owned up to it! And you know what?” he grabbed his leather back and slammed it on the table, pointing stiffly at it, “You can go through this again if you want! Come on, Erene–do it! You know why I can say that?” He dared even to step closer to her now and say directly, “I got nothing to hide anymore.” Annastaria stepped back from him, as if he was something allergic to her. “What about you?” he added. But even then he wasn’t finished, “Come to think of it… What exactly are you doing here?”
“I told you.” Annastaria replied, “I am looking for my family!”
Jodel chuckled as he grabbed Annastaria’s bag and placed it on the table, “Well then,” he said, “if that’s true, then we’ll open this up here and find no glass blades hiding somewhere in here, will we?”
Annastaria lunged her right arm out with an airburst that blasted Jodel and the other three away, as well as the table and all their things.
“Buurda’kameen shen-feli!” she cursed.
Bastillina stumbled away from the blast, nearly struck by Annastaria’s burst of rage, while Oden was skinned and tumbled to the ground. Annastaria stepped forward, ignoring the terror in Bastillina’s eyes. “En’esh fen me’kalarem, aenvaer!” she said, with her eyes set on Jodel, who was still picking himself up. Before any more curses could be uttered, she felt two arms grip her around her neck and pull her away. Oden looked up, and saw Rolek performing a rear-naked choke on her. She demonstrated surprising strength for her size, trying to pull herself out of it, but Rolek’s grip wouldn’t give way.
Annastaria had only seconds before she would be out cold; she dropped herself, pulling Rolek down until she got on her knees, and threw him over and off herself. Rolek tumbled, but sprang up as fast as he fell, knowing she would be attacking him as he had experienced before.
She sent a tremor through the wood, splitting it apart as it burst towards him, while sprinting at him herself. Rolek reversed the tremor, and strafed left as she came towards him, dodging her onslaught and engaging in combat. Like before, she was fast, but Rolek noticed this time, she was angry, and she was over-extending herself; not as patient as before, waiting for an opportunity. He landed a shot to her gut, forcing her back, but she threw a fist, which he grabbed. She threw her other hand, and he grabbed that as well, and using his sheer body weight, pushed her backwards into a pillar.
“Stop it!” he shouted, hoping to pin her down with the power of his words as much as his own strength.
“Ean… el met paken kuuretmu!” she grunted, refusing to even speak aenian at this point. It was like she was a totally different person, not aenmen, but a zealot. She leaped up, and knee him in the chest, forcing him to bend down. Annastaria broke free of his grasp and kneed him in the face, but with the adrenaline rushing through him now, he found the strength to push forward, and barreled into her, forcing Annastaria to the ground, and from there, tried again to subdue her, instead of fighting.
“Stop!” screamed Bastillina, and with it, a flashing light and charges of electricity blistering the area. An explosion burst out from where she was, sending Rolek and Annastaria tumbling away another few feet into the bar counter. An unsettling silence followed; everyone was focused on Bastillina, who seemed to be centered in the inn, with chairs and tables either pushed aside, or destroyed completely. Her eyes glowed again as she looked at her smoking hands.
The inn doors once more burst open, and this time, were breached and appearing from the breach was a tall, pale and bald man. It was him. Bastillina stumbled to the sound and gasped, turning to see him as his eyes set themselves upon her. Annastaria and Rolek picked themselves up, and were forced once more to stand side-by-side against Jorum.
“We’ll finish this later.” Rolek said quietly to her, but he scorned her with the words. Annastaria paid little attention to the words, though they struck deep. She used her anger produced by them to channel at this haunting, pale man.
As Jorum’s feet thudded, step-by-step past Dean who was launched near the entrance, he looked ahead, anticipating the upcoming fight. Dean pulled himself up and saw Annastaria’s bag only a few feet away from him, tossed aside along with himself, and its content spilling out across the floor. He nearly froze at the fortunate sight, and with the elf distracted, he crawled towards it and took the artifact in his hand. But as he reached, he caught Oden off to his left, charging at him. Before Dean could stand up properly to fend Oden off, Oden barrelled into him and threw him to the ground, and the artifact tumbled towards the door. The two struggled to gain the top for control, to beat the other down. Oden wanted nothing more than to pound this man’s face in. He was a friend, and he betrayed Oden. And now Oden’s only real friend, he discovered, had betrayed him as well.
But Jodel snatched the artifact and grabbed Harris who went to help Dean. “No!” Jodel ordered as he pulled Harris back, “Dean and Oden got some bonding issues to settle. We got the artifact–Jorum will handle the rest.”
Harris hesitated for a moment but agreed, and the two left as Annastaria and Rolek engaged Jorum, preventing him from getting closer to Bastillina.
“It’s over, Oden!” said Dean, looking down at Oden who he had pinned to the ground, “The SIU is on its way right now. They’ll be on this place in a matter of minutes! And with Jorum? It’s inevitable!”
“Inevitable what?” Oden grunted back.
“The elf, and the kid.”
Oden’s struggling relented for a moment as the words sank in, “What kid?”
“You know who I’m talking about–the girl. Ryker wants the girl. Whatever she did this morning? Let’s just say its power surge even gave Jorum a headache.”
Oden had enough, and roared as he pushed Dean off himself. Their momentum pushed back and forth, neither able to gain an advantage over the other. Both managed to get to their feet, but still wouldn’t let each other go, until Dean tripped over Oden’s footing, falling back but pulling Oden with him and they tumbled outside, onto the patio into another downpour of rain. In the scuffle, Dean pulled himself away, carrying Annastaria’s bag with him, and the two squared off.
“Damn you!” Oden screamed at Dean, “You were my friend! I trusted you!”
“Oh give it a rest, will you?” Dean shouted back, “This was never about friendship, Oden! You and me? We were doing business! We just happened to work together! Don’t you get it? Get your twinkling, stary brain out of those fantasy stories and look around! The Uprising damned these lands; Febia’s about to fall, and it will reach this place. There’s no more valiant efforts to save humanity, and to return to the old ways. That’s long gone, along with the primes.” Dean’s preaching, although it’s oratory power subsided due to Dean being tired, nevertheless burned in Oden’s mind, “I don’t care for all that superstitious legend stuff, but I’ll tell you one thing the new prophecies got right: this land is cursed. It always will be. The Berchazians tried to unite the lands, but crumbled under their own tyrannical, ultranationalism; Armadon tried to provide a united empire and the Uprising tore it to pieces. Now the EU tries it and look what’s happening in Febia.”
He paused once more, allowing himself and Oden to catch their breaths, as well as their mental soundness. “There’s only surviving now, Oden,” Dean continued, softer now, “don’t you see? The gods have forsaken us. Artharos has forsaken us. That elf in there? She betrayed you, and yeah, I betrayed you too, but at least I’m being straight with you right now.” He still had Annastaria’s bag in his hand. He tossed it at Oden, allowing what was left inside to spill on the ground in front of Oden. “There.” Dean said, “There’s your so-called ‘friend’. That’s who she really is… She’s been using you, Oden. She doesn’t care about you, and she doesn’t care about the aenman world. She’s a zealot, a member of the old elvish order; a people who don’t know when to quit, when to realize that their dream of a restored kingdom has gone, and their own scriptures say it–people who have and will kill to restore that order, including you.”
There was no hiding it now. Oden stared at the contents spilling out of Erene’s bag, trying to bring himself to accept what he was looking at. It was strangely difficult. It was a leap he couldn’t take, even if it would save his life.
“I bet she never even told you her name.” Dean continued, sinking deeper into Oden’s mind, “The elves want a revolution from the east, the Febian revolutionaries want one from the west… In the end, what’s the difference between either of them? If you know any better, Oden, you’ll leave her and them behind, and come with me.”
With the focus of Annastaria’s air mastery, and Rolek’s rock manipulation, as well as his use of air and magic energy, Jorum was forced to battle them on two levels, to engage with the nature of the swiftness of air in persistent movement, and rock with stern, static power. He was pushed back briefly, but with a surprise counter-attack, was able to strike Rolek by pulling out a chunk of rock from beneath him, launching Rolek into a pillar. Annastaria did not relent, and didn’t care about Rolek anymore; she blasted him with airbursts, but he moved with and through them, almost as fluently as she did, and reverted the airbursts back at her.
Annastaria ducked and dodged, but Jorum used her forced defenses to close in, swinging a kick to her head that she barely dodged, but before she could even rise back to her feet, was struck with a knee to her ribs, stunning her. Jorum sent a blunt elbow at her, indicating to Annastaria that he didn’t intend to do serious damage to her, only enough to put her down. She crossed her arms as the blow came in, still crippled from the knee and the elbow strike blasted her away with a combination of an airburst. Annastaria flew into the inn counter, leaving Jorum to once again set his eyes on Bastillina. As he drew closer to her again, he was struck in the left arm by a bullet, and the sound of the shot blistered the walls. Jorum looked up, unphased by the wound.
It was one of the deputies, aiming a pistol at him. Others came down with their rifles and fired them at Jorum, who whipped out a blazing thick whip of fire at them in the blink of an eye. The inferno consumed the staircase, giving them only a moment to leap for their lives out of the way. Just as Jorum sent the blaze at the deputies above, he felt a blunt force smash against his lower-left abdomen. His body crippled at the shock of the blow, and he looked down to see Bastillina, with a broken piece of wood, and roaring exhales attempting to beat him down with the wood. She struck him one more time in the left leg, but as she brought the beam back once more, Jorum reached out and with just his right-hand palm, grabbed the back of her head and threw her to the ground.
Annastaria pulsed with rage, and she ignored the pain her back felt from crashing into the hardwood bar counter and lunged at Jorum. Her disregard for caution and quiet swiftness made her like a tornado coming at him. He turned to her ambush and dodged her onslaught and used her carelessness against her, catching her in an armlock that threw her to the ground. Annastaria’s left cheek smashed with the wooden floor to her chest, paralyzing her respiratory system and leaving her incapable of taking in air.
A cough managed to puff out of her mouth, and she stumbled to get up, but Jorum towered over her and Bastillina. Once again, his eyes stared down at her, and overwhelmed her with fear. Bastillina ran past him to Annastaria, crying out to her as if hoping her words carried strength for her, “Erene! No! Get up!”. But Annastaria was broken and crippled.
Bastillina’s fear turned to anger and she spun around to deliver all her rage into Jorum with a hammering fist. But he caught her small hand with his larger arm easily, and with a finger in his free hand pressed against her chest, sending a shock through Bastillina. Her body clenched up before she collapsed, kept from falling only because Jorum held her up with her clenched fist. He reached down to grab Annastaria, but more gunshots were heard, and the wooden floor around them began to burst open. The shots caused Jorum to stumble, and lose his grip on Bastillina. Rolek leaped from the shadows then, and pushed his rage into a powerful tremor that went around Annastaria, and burst in front of Jorum. Though he saw it, he lost Bastillina and she tumbled away.
As Jorum came back to the ground, he ambushed Rolek with a left-handed slash that sent a magic-burst out to him. Rolek prepared a proper anti-magic warp, but the projectile burst into ice shards mid-flight. Rolek braced himself for the impact, knowing his anti-magic warp would not stop elemental attacks; he was pelted viciously, scrapped and smitten, burned and slashed by the shards before an airburst finished him off, sending him once more into the bar counter.
Jorum turned and saw Annastaria picking herself back up, readying her right hand in a formation he was not about to allow her to complete. He launched himself at her, and just before she could complete the spell formation in her hand, and finish the Nagush words, he grabbed her right hand with his own, pushed it down, and drove his right elbow into her jaw.
Dazed from the elbow, and with her right arm subdued, Annastaria beat his right abdomen with her left hand, but it did little. Before she could strike again, her throat was clenched by his left hand and she was lifted from the ground. Jorum extended his right-hand index finger and pressed it against her chest, sending the same shock through her as he did Bastillina. She felt the surge pulse through her body, striking all her magicka points and paralyzing them, leaving her barely conscious. He threw her over his shoulder, and made towards the entrance.
Dean and Oden were locked in mental combat before they were ready to clash again with fists and grunts of struggle and pain, but the engines roared around them; three large, black wagon cars ran down the main road like three trains, and stopped just in front of the inn. The car doors flew open, and Elise, Dylen, along with two squads of police poured out and aimed their pistols at them.
“Down on the ground!” Elise ordered.
Oden and Dean gave one last stare at each other, as if trying to squeeze in one last mental battle before they were forced to surrender the fight, and they put their hands up, turned, and faced the police. Dylen repeated Elise’s words, and both men slowly went to their knees and onto the ground. It only took a few seconds before they were swarmed by the police, arrested and pulled out to the cars.
When Jorum saw them close off the entrance, he stopped. There was no getting out that way. He turned around, and dashed towards the back. His lengthy limbs gave him a wide stride that carried him across the inn floor in a matter of two seconds, far too quick for Gerdan and the others to readied their weapons and fire.
Before they knew it, he was gone. Only a few seconds later did Elise and the rest of the police swarm the area, demanding hands and surrender. Gerdan and the deputies identified themselves quickly, and made it down the stairs that were still functioning, without weapons. Rolek’s back and neck were stiffened, which meant that when the adrenaline wore off, they would ache even more. He knew he was beaten, and surrendered quickly.
It took another few minutes before they found Bastillina, hiding in the stairwell opposite where Gerdan and the others were. She fought the officer holding her by the arm as he and another dragged her out to the inn floor. “Let me go!” she demanded.
“Hey!” Elise snapped, moving towards them swiftly, “Take it easy with her!” Bastillina didn’t know why, but she felt compelled to calm down as Elise took control of the situation. The officers loosened their grip and let Bastillina go. “Are you okay?” Elise asked, “Don’t worry, my name is Elise. I’m with the Special Investigations Unit. You must be Bella… We’ve been looking for you.”
Bastillina paused for a moment, and Elise could see the confusion and terror in her eyes as she struggled to catch her breath. “Is that who you really are?” Bastillina asked.
Elise was startled by the question, but she wanted the girl to trust her. “Of course.” she said, taking her name badge and handing it to the girl, “See? That’s me, and that’s my name, right there.”
Bastillina looked carefully at it. She considered the possibility of making fake identities, but she didn’t know how to identify one. As she looked, Elise noticed her left hand, and the dark veins faintly seen up her forearm.
“What happened to your arm?” Elise asked.
Bastillina panicked and she retrieved it, pulling her jacket sleeve down over it. “Nothing.” she said.
“Are you sure? That looks troubling… Did someone do that to you?”
Again, Bastillina went silent for several long seconds. “I don’t know.” her shaky voice confessed, and her eyes welled up. She thought of Erene, how she helped her, saved her life, and took her out of being trapped in Levaan, showed her how to use her power, and showed her only a glimpse of the world beyond. It was like her heart was melting, and beating faster to stay alive. She was stung, and she didn’t know what to think of this woman standing in front of her. She somehow reminded Bastillina of Erene, and she didn’t know if she was comforted or if she wanted to curse it.
“Hey…” Elise said softly, taking Bastillina in her arms for an even softer yet warming embrace, “It’s okay. You’re okay now. We’re going to get you out of here, okay?”
Dylen stood with the deputies and innkeepers who began to explain everything that happened, watching Rolek, Oden and Dean be taken away in handcuffs. “Agent Dylen!” an officer called out, drawing Dylen’s attention. He walked towards him as the man handed him Annastaria’s backpack.
“What’s this?” Dylen asked.
“Not sure,” said the officer, “But it’s got some interesting items in it. Thought you and your partner over there might want to see it.”
Dylen examined the contents, and discerned quickly what he was looking at. He thanked the officer and took the backpack, saying no more to him, and signalled Elise as she was escorting Bastillina outside to the police cars. Elise gave the officers instructions for Bastillina and went to Dylen. “I think we may have our suspect’s backpack.” Dylen said, showing Elise what was inside.
Elise could hardly believe what she was looking at. They looked around, ensuring no one would see what they were doing, and set the backpack on a table to look closer. Elise found the book Istvan gave Annastaria, while Dylen found the case holding the glass knives. “My god…” Dylen said in a hushed voice, “I never thought I’d ever seen one of these… You know what this means, right?” he asked as Elise opened the book and skimmed through it.
“Yes…” Elise answered, half-focused on his question, while her eyes were fixed on the contents of the book, “I know what it means.” Dylen paused at how she uttered those words, as if she was under a spell. “I wonder what this means, though.” she added.
“What is it?” Dylen asked.
Elise was slow to respond; her eyes were still focused on the book. “I’m not sure.” she answered, “I can’t read anything in it; it’s in some form of elvish.”
“All the more reason to believe our elvish suspect is from the zealots, I fear.”
Elise said nothing for a moment, shutting the book, sending dust out into the air, “But we still haven’t caught her.”
“Well we know she was here, and very recently. I bet her friends would know where she’s gone.”
Elise couldn’t agree more, and now it was time to set their focus on the others. They took Annastaria’s bag, and everything that was in it, and stepped outside. Before they could reach Oden and Rolek, however, an officer stopped them, “Got some bad news. The storms up north have the roads blocked due to flooding. Only way back east is to go down south around Galssan Lake.”
The news was less than ideal for Elise, but she had no intention of going back until she had the elf in custody.
“See what you can get out of Oden and the others.” Elise said to Dylen, “I’ll go talk to the girl.”
Dylen nodded, and the two separated. He was escorted to the car that had Oden in it. The officer guarding it stepped aside, opening the door for Dylen. There Oden sat, but seemed not to be where he was. He was staring off into the car’s center console area, with his hands cuffed behind him.
“You must be Oden.” Dylen said, hoping to strike up some conversation. No luck. Dylen looked around for a moment before continuing, “Look, Oden–and I know you’re Oden… I don’t know what you did to end up here, or why you’re running from the mafia, and truth be told, we’re not actually here to arrest you specifically.”
“You will when you find out about me.” Oden spoke. But he still kept his eyes away from Dylen.
“Probably… But if you help me find who we’re looking for, I’ll see what I can do about making whatever it is you’ve done less bad.”
Oden was silent again, and battled within himself whether to indulge this SIU agent or not. “And who might that be?” he asked.
“We know that you, and your two friends we’ve arrested aren’t the only ones you were travelling with. There’s an elf that’s been with you.” Oden could almost snarl at the mention of her. “She’s the one we’ve been looking for. Finding you is how we’ve been tracking her. Now we have you, and she’s gone. I think she was here, with you guys this very morning, which means you know better than any of my people where she was last seen.”
Oden took a moment to absorb the question, and consider where to begin. None of it mattered; he only had one answer for Dylen, “I have no idea where she is.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. I mean, she was here just as you guys showed up.”
“What were you doing on the front porch of the inn with your other friend?”
“You mean used to be my friend… That was Dean. I’ll save you the details about that; just know that Dean and I got into a fight when you guys showed up. We ended up outside while Ryker’s proxy pet master stormed the inn and started wreaking havoc. That monster’s unbeatable. But I don’t know what was going on inside the inn after that.”
Dylen paused to think for a moment. He cross-referenced Oden’s words in his mind, but found himself out of questions, at least for now. Now was time for him to ask the others.
Elise stepped towards the car she and Dylen were driving; she intended to take the girl home personally. Bastillina had a blanket over her shoulders to keep warm, and all she could think about was Erene, and how she missed her, but also how she felt betrayed by her. She didn’t want to think about it, but couldn’t stop. Every road in her mind that led her away from the thought always led her right back to it.
“Hi there.” Elise said as she knelt down to level with Bastillina, “How are you feeling?”
Bastillina hesitated, keeping the blanket over her. “Cold.” she said.
Though finding Erene was a priority for Elise, here and now, she only wanted Bastillina to be safe. But she still had an elvish zealot to find. “Bella,” she began, “I know you’re going through a lot right now, and it’s something a kid like you should never have to go through… But I need you to help me out right now with finding the one who did this to you. The elvish girl who took you from your home… Do you know where she is?”
Bastillina looked at Elise then, as though she was struck. “She didn’t take me.” she said, “And she didn’t hurt me… Except… Well she did, but…”
Elise waited to see what else she would say, but Bastillina lost her words. “I know, dear.” Elise said with a mother’s voice, “I understand.”
“No, you don’t understand!” Bastillina snapped, pushing through her confusion, “I mean… she lied to me, and Oden. She told us she was a friend, and she helped me.” Bastillina raised her left arm for Elise to see fully, “This? She didn’t do this to me–I did it! I don’t know what I did, or how to make it go away, but I did it! Erene was trying to help me. Then I find out she’s someone else and… And now I don’t know what to think anymore.”
Elise paused, recovering herself from Bastillina’s outburst. If what Bastillina was saying was true, then finding Erene to give her own explanation of all of this was important. “You know what I think?” Elise began, “I think what we need is to find Erene, so she can explain herself… Help me find her, Bella… Do you know where she went?”
Bastillina thought and thought, having to dig into her memory. She found it strangely difficult to remember what happened only less than an hour ago. “I think…” she began, “I think she was kidnapped… By this big, ugly, pale spook, who was bald–and a master. He’s been hunting us for days.”
“Do you know his name?”
Bastillina shook her head, “No. But he’s got these weird tattoos all over his body. He’s a monster, and he tried to take me… But he got Erene instead.”
“Do you know where they went then?”
Bastillina shook her head again, leaving Elise with all she could get. But it was something to work with. “You have to find her.” Bastillina said as Elise stood up, “You can’t let them hurt her. I know she’s done some bad things, but… but she’s a good person.”
Elise didn’t know how to respond to Bastillina’s statement; she wasn’t sure herself what to think of this elf anymore. Elise nodded, and stepped away, finding Dylen talking to Rolek, who told Dylen the same thing Bastillina told Elise. “Is the kid okay?” Rolek asked.
“She’s fine.” Elise answered, “Just shaken up.”
“That’s good.”
An awkward silence followed, but Elise had a question of her own for Rolek. “So how’d you end up with Erene and Oden?”
Rolek leaned back in his seat with a small smile, “Truth be told, I’m a bounty hunter.”
“Are you? Why do we have a bounty hunter in custody, then?”
“Well… I’m not exactly an ‘honest’ bounty hunter, if you know what I mean. Anyone who’ll pay me to find someone, I’ll find them. And I’m damn good at it, too.”
“And what, were you sent to find the elf?”
“Her? No, of course not. None of us had any idea she was here. From what I can see, we ran into her by sheer, blind luck, or by bad omen, depending how you look at it. I’m collecting a bounty on Oden.”
“Where are you delivering him to?” asked Dylen.
Rolek paused then, made to stop by his instinct to protect himself. “The people who were going to pay me,” he said.
Elise narrowed her eyes slightly. “You’re not going to tell me who it is, are you?” she asked.
Rolek smirked, “All due respect, ma’am, I’d rather talk through a lawyer about that one. All I’ll tell you right now is I was collecting a bounty on him for someone.”
Elise didn’t give up her glare at him, beaming as she stood over him sitting in the car seat. “It’s really pointless to remain quiet.” she said, “I already know who it is. It’s either Ryker or the Intero, both of whom are working together. But fine, keep your mouth shut, if you think it’s going to help you at all.” Rolek only continued to smile, but was impressed with her persistence. Elise looked away for a moment as she continued, “So you were hired to find Oden and bring him to said employers, but not anymore?”
“Things got a little complicated. Long story short, I was with a few other scrawny little punks hired by my contractor, one of ‘em I see you caught with us. A worthless bunch they are, nothing but scoundrels who know nothing about how to track someone, much less how to catch them. When I learned they were going after Oden who had this elite elvish master as his protection, I knew these dudes were in way over their head… So, I saw an opportunity.”
“What kind of opportunity?” Elise asked.
“The kind where I let them get their asses handed to them by the elf, and swoop in to collect Oden in the middle of it. Of course, as they underestimated his bodyguard, so did I. Long story short, I tracked them, caught up with them, and here I am.”
“Interesting story, but that doesn’t seem to line up with how you got here, though. Because you have your prize sitting right over there in that squad car, and nowhere before then did you think to take it.”
“Well, the elf had the artifact I needed for the full reward that Oden was carrying. I had to figure out how to get it from her, and then nab Oden. Was working on that, but then that damned ghostly dude showed up and kicked my ass, yet again.”
“What artifact?” Dylen asked.
“The one that my contractor wants.”
“What’s this contractor want with an artifact?”
Rolek shrugged, “Why the hell would I know? I’m just returning what they claimed to have lost. That’s it.”
Elise and Dylen looked at each other, and could both sense the need to step away and talk. They left Rolek alone and walked back towards the inn. “So,” Dylen began, “let’s put all of this together. We’ve got an Intero mafia boss and a crazy scientist guy working together… How does that work?”
“Ryker’s been forced underground for some time.” Elise said, “That means he’ll have to use proxies to help him do what he intends to do. So he hires the Intero to help keep him a secret in Carzat.”
“But why Carzat?”
Elise paused to think before answering, “I don’t know… What I do know is that he wants Erene for something, which can’t be good… We need to find her, and quickly.”
“How? Where ‘re we gonna to look?”
Elise looked around the scene to think, until her eyes landed on Oden again. “The guy Oden was fighting with when we pulled up.” she began, “Oden says he was working with Ryker. He must’ve been part of the group that ambushed them. I think we should have a chat.”
Elise and Dylen approached the car holding Dean, finding him in a similar way Oden was. He watched no one in particular as the scene was assessed, with the rain slowly coming down again. But his eyes found something to fix on when Elise and Dylen came to him. “I swear, officers,” he said, “things are not what they seem.”
“Oh, I think we see that.” Elise answered, “We’ve spoken to the others and so far, it seems like this little scenario is as strange as they get. There’s just one other thing that’s missing.” Dylen noticed Elise’s tone was different. She was much more direct with this guy; this was an interrogation, not simply gathering information. It must’ve been her investigator’s instinct, which he would ask about later. “We’ve got almost every key suspect responsible for why I’m over three-hundred miles from my home in Levaan; I just need one more and she happens to have been kidnapped.” Elise stepped closer to impose herself more, “I think you know where they are, and you’re going to tell me.”
“What?” Dean protested, “That’s insane! I’ve never met these people!”
“That’s not what Oden said.” Dylen quickly objected, “He says he knows you, and the bounty hunter claims to know you as well.”
“Lying to me is only going to make life worse for you.” Elise said, “According to the others, a band of thugs sent by a guy named Ryker came down here for someone, who they managed to grab. I’m betting that’s the elvish girl I’m missing, isn’t it?” Dean went silent, and shifted his eyes between Elise and Dylen, trying to find something to say. “I thought so.” Elise continued, “Oden’s fighting you on the porch, so whatever ‘friendship’ you two had before, it’s not doing so great now, is it? Somehow you ended up working for Ryker and the Intero boss in Levaan. You’re caught, boy, with no way out. So, here’s the deal: As I see it, I walk away from this conversation in one of two ways, either with you spilling everything you know to me, or with you going to prison for a long time, which I will personally see to, and maybe the Intero won’t get you in there… maybe they will… But, if you give me everything I want to know about where they took her, I think I’ll show some grace. It’s your call.”
Dean remained silent, once again looking at both of them, and going back and forth between what to do. Finally he gave a sigh and shook his head. “Screw all of this.” he said, “What the hell ‘ve those guys done for me? They’re taking her back to Carzat, with the artifact.”
“Do you know what road they’re taking?” Dylen asked.
“I’m assuming the same one we used to get here, which was Market Road 46 to I-7, going east.”
Dylen and Elise looked at each other. “They couldn’t have gotten past the roadblocks.” Dylen said.
“Roadblocks?” Dean asked.
But Elise and Dylen didn’t answer him. They hastened away to find the deputies again. Gerdan saw them move back to the inn and went quickly to meet them, sensing the urgency. “You’re Gerdan, yes?” Elise said.
“That’s me, ma’am.” he replied, “What is it?”
“We know where they’re taking Erene. They’re heading back up towards Cymroyl, to I-7 that will take them straight back to Carzat.”
Gerdan shook his head as he replied, “Not possible. The roads closed down a little over an hour ago.”
“We came in after our suspects.” Dylen said, “Just before the roads closed. How’d we not see them or their cars?”
“They must’ve parked their convoy somewhere in the woods so they wouldn’t be seen.” Elise added.
“It’s not entirely impossible to go through the woods.” Gerdan said, sending Elise and Dylen into a pause, “There’s a small road that goes through the forest. If they’re smart and anticipate the roads, there’s a good chance they’ll go through there.”
“The rain won’t affect that road either?”
“It would, but it’s not an official road, so it can’t be closed off. And most people would do well not to use it in this weather.”
“They would if they’ve gotta get somewhere in a hurry.” said Dylen.
“Mr. Gerdan, you know this area better than everyone else. I want you with me while we send the rest of the officers up the main road to see what they find. Show me where this road is, now.”
“Gladly, ma’am. But I think you should have Erene’s friends come along.”
Elise was half-turned around when Gerdan surprised her with that statement, causing her to stop and look back at him. “And why would I do that?” she asked.
Gerdan shrugged, “They seemed to work together. I don’t know their history, ma’am, but especially Rolek, the taller one with the beard. I think he could be a good help.”
Elise looked at Dylen, but said nothing. She walked out of the inn, while Gerdan went to quickly collect some deputies to help, feeding off Elise’s urgency. The rain was pouring yet again, but Elise ignored it, storming towards Rolek’s car while Dylen began giving out the new orders. Oden saw the officer’s change in their demeanor, seeming to go alert as they converged on their cars, and he looked to and fro for answers of some kind. Elise stepped towards Rolek.
“You,” she said, “so you said you’re good at tracking people?”
Rolek paused for a moment, trying to anticipate where she was going. “I am.” he answered confidently.
Elise hesitated. She couldn’t believe what she was even contemplating. “If we move now, we can catch your elvish friend before they get out of the woods.”
“What makes you think they’re in the woods?”
“The roads are out, and they’ll want to be as far away from here with their prize as possible.”
“So you need my help?”
“Only to find them.”
“That’s it? What‘re you gonna to do when you run into the big pale guy? I doubt he’s just gonna roll over when you point your little guns at him.”
“Help us track them, and we’ll take it from there–got it?”
Rolek paused again to think. He smiled and stood out of the car, surprising Elise as he lowered his now freed hands, with the handcuffs in one. “Alright, then.” he said, “If it helps the elf, I’ll help you find her.”
“How in the world?” Elise stuttered as he handed her the cuffs.
“What?” he said as he stretched his aching back, “These? Easy to break free from when you’re a guy like me. I was actually just waiting for us to hit the road for my chance to escape, but I can’t leave the elf to the kind of fate she’s got coming for her. Now… Are we gonna get started, or waste time standing around here?”
Elise glared at him, but set aside her animosity. “We’re gonna follow Gerdan and his men into the woods.” she ordered him, “You will assist them. Now get ready to move out.” Elise wasted no more time after the words and walked off.
Rolek was left alone, and saw an opportunity to go over to Oden, as his car was still left idle. He moved quickly, dodging officers and others as they scrambled and came to Oden. “Rolek?” Oden said, “How the hell are you free?”
“They’re using me to help find Erene.” Rolek said.
“What? Where’d she go?”
“She was taken by that Jorum guy. Grabbed her just before the police showed up.”
“How’d you get them to let you help?”
“No idea, actually. But I’m not complaining.”
Oden was silent for a moment. He thought about Annastaria again, and how she angered him. But for some reason, he couldn’t help but worry for her. “You’re going to help Erene?” he asked, “Why?”
Rolek smirked, “I’m a man of my word. I still have a duel with her to do.”
“Okay… What about me? And Bella?”
“I’ll see what I can do. Right now, hang tight, and keep her close.”
Masters of Eldreon 