He wondered where the boy was now? Had he found his family? Had the beef jerky he had given to the boy been enough to ward off starvation?
Other, darker fears breached Tomas’s mind.
Had the cold gotten him? Was he alone some place? Or perhaps the Akurai invaders had found him and butchered him. Or worse.
“Tomas? Speak to me.”
The voice was ghostly. So distant, so far away. A place Tomas felt he would never be able to return to. Not now, not after all that had happened.
Tomas had tried explaining to the others what had happened during the attack with those creatures, how Ref had stabbed Rilan during the attack.
He was the only one to have seen it.
His efforts were futile- the hunting knife that Ref had used was flung from his hands when Tomas had tackled him and was lost amongst the snow and debris of the camp.
No one could account for how Rilan had died, but Ref, through his bloodied smile and broken face, had insisted it was one of those monsters, and he was only trying to help the boy.
A blatant lie.
Landry had stood up for Tomas, corroborating the story of Ref and Styna’s previous attack on Rilan. But the men were at odds, and the captain was having none of it. He refused to believe either Ref or Tomas. No soldier in his company would dare murder another, the captain believed.
Ref requested to have Tomas executed for attacking him. Gharland instead ordered Landry to chain the grieving boy up.
“We still need him.”
It had left Tomas feeling hopeless and alone, imprisoned in both mind and body. The shackles against his skin only heightened the ones tightening in his subconscious.
Onwards they had trudged through the snowy forest and into the foothills of the Fist, where the path branched out into various unmarked routes.
Then it hit him. Tomas remembered his key that he had brought from home, hanging from the steel chain around his neck.
Where is it? In a panic, he felt for the key, but realised it was gone.
“Landry,” Tomas whispered through his cracked lips. The squire looked relieved to see him finally speak. “Where are my things?”
“Your things?” Landry gulped, unsure of what to say. He looked back at the survivours of the company who were arguing amongst themselves over which route to take, since their guide was refusing to give directions.
“My chain. The one I had around my neck.”
Landry scratched his head. “I don’t know, Tomas. The others stripped you of everything after they shackled you.”
Tomas looked to the others in the party, feeling uneasy. Who could have his key? Captain Gharland? Or possibly even Ref?
Smiling John sat in the snow, exhausted. He had survived his burns and was covered in ointments, dressings, and bandages. He glared at Tomas intensely.
“I didn’t do anything wrong. You must believe me. You need to unchain me,” Tomas begged. The skin on his wrists was raw and painful from the metal, and walking was difficult.
“You know I can’t do that.”
“I need to get my things back.”
“Right now, we need your help to find our way up the mountain, Tomas.”
Tomas shook his head. “Why did you even bother to stand up for me if you don’t believe me?”
“Because I don’t want to see you dead.”
“I may as well be.” Tomas leant against the shell of a hollow out tree, shaking his head. “I’m a dead man walking.”
I could run. But how far would I get in these chains? And where on Eos would I even go?
“If you do as I say, I can protect you from them,” Landry said, gesturing to Ref, Smiling John and the few remaining in the company who appeared to be siding with Ref.
“Do you really think I attacked Ref for no reason?”
“I don’t know what happened, Tomas. All I know is, you say one thing and Ref says another. I take my orders from the captain.”
“Fuck the captain.”
Landry rushed to cover Tomas’s mouth. “Are you insane? He’ll have your head if he hears you say anything like that. You are already on thin ice as it is, Tomas.”
“Like I give a shit. Rilan is dead. Ref murdered him. I only came all this way because of Rilan. He was the only person I had left… and now he’s gone.”
Landry consoled Tomas with a half-embrace. “I’m sorry, Tomas. I wish I could go back and change what happened.”
“No one believes me,” Tomas sniffled, but refusing to cry.
He felt so lost, like having the very earth pulled out from under him, removing any resemblance of direction he may have once had.
Landry wanted to tell him that he believed him, to try and make Tomas feel heard. But he couldn’t. Tomas could see it written across his face that he was just as unsure as the others.
“If I’m guilty of attacking Ref unprovoked, then why hasn’t the Gharland had me executed?” Tomas said.
“Because I convinced him not to,” Landry said, “until you were sound of mind at least, so that we could figure out what really happened. We thought that maybe you were so grief-stricken upon finding Rilan’s body that you attacked Ref.”
“That’s the only reason I’m alive?! Your good word?”
“And because we need you. This mountain path is a labyrinth, and you are our only guide.”
At least he’s honest.
“Why should I help them? Fuck them, the lot of them. They should be dead in the ground with Rilan.”
“Half of us are dead. We need help, Tomas. We need to figure out what the fuck is going on. I don’t want you to be executed,” Landry said. “But if you refuse to help the company find our way to
