She was not there, but, as with the foyer,
her room was cast into disarray — books
thrown on the floor, the bed a smoldering
pile of burned sheets, straw, and wood. Next
to the burning mass lay a piece of cloth. He
recognized it, grabbed it: a scrap of her
dress, the lavender dress she always wore
for his homecoming. A spattering of blood
tainted the remnant.
'Marissa!' He yelled in impotent rage. His
sixteen-year-old sister, his best friend, so
bright, so alive… Marakion uttered a
strangled cry, clutched the cloth in his fist…
'Sir?'
Sir…?
'Sir, are you asleep?'
Marakion started awake as the hand touched him. He was disoriented, thought he was still there, still back at his burned and devastated home. His hand reacted to the touch with the quickness of a snake. Snatching the thin wrist, he held it tightly. There was a gasp of pain. Marakion stared hard, trying to focus his eyes.
Marissa?
The eyes of the woman were wide, and she was frozen where she stood.
Marakion's harsh stare did not relent, but his grip lost some of its steel. No, not Marissa, a barmaid, just a barmaid.
'What?' he asked shortly, releasing the woman's wrist. Her hair was a dirty red, and as unkempt as the plain, rumpled brown dress she wore.
She appraised him coolly with shrewish eyes. 'Griffort wants to know if you want pepper in your stew.'
'Fine,' Marakion said, 'that's fine.'
'I'll tell him,' she said curtly, and left.
Marakion slowly withdrew something from his tunic. Unfolding it, he laid the piece of lavender cloth out in front of him. It was worn, faded; dark brown spots stained it.
Closing his eyes, Marakion pressed the cloth against his cheek.
'Marissa…'
The following morning dawned cold and unpleasant. It was snowing. As Marakion shouldered his pack and tied on his cloak, he stared out the window in his room and thought that today would be the day he found the marauders. Today would be the day he found where the scum holed up.
Griffort was wiping down the bar, looked up to see him.
'Morning, sir,' he said. 'Breakfast for you today? I might be able to scrape together some eggs, if you've the wealth for 'em.'
'No. I'm leaving.'
Griffort nodded. 'Which way you headed?'
'West.'
Griffort's face darkened, and he motioned Marakion closer. The innkeeper spoke in a low voice, 'You want a copper's worth of free advice?'
Marakion nodded for him to continue.
'Don't go west, at least not straight west. Skirt Mount Phineous if you can. Evil things going on up there.'
Marakion was interested. 'How so?'
'Lader's Knoll.' The innkeeper shook his head. 'We used to have an arrangement with a farmer up there in Lader's Knoll. Taters don't grow down here, as well as other stuff Bartus likes for his cooking, so we'd swap bread and the like for vegetables and such — but I can see you're not into long stories, so I'll cut it short. One day, the farmer stopped bringing his wagon down. I sent one of the town boys to Lader's Knoll to see what had happened. The kid never came back. Something bad's going on up there, stranger — ' Griffort stopped at the sight of Marakion's smile.
'Perfect,' Marakion said. 'Does the name 'Knightsbane Marauders' mean anything to you? Have you heard of them?'
The disconcerted innkeeper shook his head slowly. 'No.'
Marakion stared at him hard, then turned and left the inn. Behind him he heard the innkeeper's comment to the barmaid: 'Must'a got his noggin cracked somewhere. World's full of crazies nowadays.'
Gylar awoke the next morning in a better mood. He'd slept all the previous day and all night. His confusion and fear were replaced by purpose. He wanted to know why the gods killed everyone, why they allowed people like his mother, and like Lutha, to die needlessly. Well, he would ask them.
The question turned over again and again in his head as he buried his mother next to the rest of his family. The snow fell lightly on him and the ground at which he worked. It was almost as though the skies knew Gylar didn't want to look at the village anymore.
When his mother was resting with his little brother and father, Gylar went back inside the house.
He closed the door on the storm outside, went to his father's room, and pulled down the pack he'd kept on the wall, the pack Gylar had seen his father use countless times when they'd gone hunting together. A brief wash of memories splashed over Gylar. He sniffled and ran a sleeve across his nose.
Turning his thoughts to more immediate tasks, Gylar took the pack into the kitchen. He collected some food suited to traveling, a good kitchen knife, a spoon, and a small pot. Gylar looked about for anything else he might need. A bedroll, he thought. He went to his room, stripped the woolen blanket off the bed, and rolled it up, tied it onto his father's already laden pack.
He put on a thick cloak and pulled the pack to the door. The snowfall had sheathed the ground in white. Mount Phineous was hidden in the distance, but its presence still loomed in Gylar's mind. What better place to contact the gods than from the top of their latest creation?
He adjusted his cloak more snugly, threw the heavy pack over his shoulder. It unsteadied him for a moment, but he regained his balance and thrust an arm through the remaining strap, securing the burden. He turned and looked one last time at what once had been his home. Gylar said nothing, bowed his head, and began walking toward the great mountain.
Marakion watched as the young boy, bundled to the teeth, left Lader's Knoll.
'Off on a journey, are we?' he said quietly from the shadow of a wall. 'And just where are you going, little looter?'
Marakion had been in the small village for about half an hour, and he hadn't seen a living being. His disappointment was acute. He'd assumed that Lader's Knoll was the marauders' camp. It was perfect, a desolate place; all those within traveling distance were scared to visit.
But instead of seedy shacks full of murderers and cutthroats, he'd found fresh graves or, sometimes, a few bodies, sleeping the slumber of the dead. The gaunt faces were a faint purple, and dried blood covered their lips.
Another false trail. His frustration was painful almost beyond bearing. He wandered the town in search of some sign, any sign that this had been the hideout of the marauders, but it appeared that the only curse to take up residence in this town was a plague.
'There's your evil, Griffort,' he'd muttered.
He'd been about to start off from the devastated village when he'd seen a door to one of the houses open. He slid from view behind one of the nearby buildings.
With a quick-beating heart and silenced breathing, Marakion watched the boy leave the village. 'Well, well.
