Tale of Four

Hearing the door open, Alice lazily rose from her bed and groaned as she stretched. ”Are we leaving now?” Touching her head and feeling her hair frizzle up, she quickly licked her hand and patted it down before jumping out of bed and grabbing her cloak, throwing it on. The servant stared with dull eyes, seeing her actions, but said nothing, suppressing whatever thoughts she had about her.

”Lord Goodson has prepared a small meal before your departure. Please, follow me.” Grabbing the quill from beside her pillow, she safely secured it in her belt before swooping up her satchel and following behind. Looking around the halls, she couldn’t help but find it rather boring. Every corridor was tight, only able to fit two people walking side by side, the walls bare and grey, with only the occasional door or torch changing it.

Climbing down a floor, the servant led Alice into one of the many identical doors and bowed towards the man standing alone at the table, before him a plate with bread and a single white cut of meat, and a handful of vegetables. Taking a seat, another servant entered and placed a plate with an identical meal before Alice, before bowing and leaving.

”I shall get to the point.” The old man said with a deep voice, cutting into the white meat with blue streaks in it, ”As this is an order from Lord Raven, I have prepared enough food for you and your escort party. They shall take you to Last Hope.” Staring at the meat, Alice stabbed her fork into it and picked the entire cut up, taking a bite and letting out a pleasant sound at the taste.

Unlike what she was expecting, the meat was warm, despite its colour. Unlike usual cuts of meat, this one had none of the surprise clumps of fat she hated biting into, and when she did bite, it melted like water, flooding her mouth with a bloody taste. Quickly cutting the food up, she greedily stuffed it into her mouth, struggling to drag the meal out and savour the taste, only stopping when her fork hit the wooden plate. Looking up, she opened her mouth to ask for more, but stopped, able to tell the answer would be no.

”So when can I go?” Without any more food to eat nor the likely chance of reading more books, she impatiently asked. The old man groaned and clapped his hands. Stepping in, two people bowed towards the old man before looking at Alice with strange looks. Both had the same grey skin like everyone else she had seen, and that wasn’t what made them strange.

The one on the left was tall, towering over everyone, his hair the same grey as the others of the Deadlands she had seen. But unlike them, who were thin, the man before her was large, a being of overwhelming fat and muscle, looking like he could fell a tree with a single swing of an axe. On his back there was a large longsword. Alice stepped forward, staring at the longsword, seeing numerous runes carved along it, marvelling, realising they were the same type she had seen on the mirror.

Looking at the other person, it was a woman with a strange wound on the right side of her face, a long gash that had a blue colour to it. It cut up from the centre of her neck, into her face along her right cheek, finally finishing by cutting the bottom of her eye and seemingly infecting the whites of it, turning the bottom half blue. Looking at the wound before looking at her whole face, Alice nodded. Mixed with her short black hair and black eyes, the wound strangely suited the woman, even if it made her look ugly.

”Okay. Let’s go.” Turning around, the two looked at the old man.

”Girl.” The old man called out to her before she could leave. Turning around, she rolled her eyes. ”The people I sent didn’t identify your friend.” Tilting her head in confusion, Alice quickly realised and nodded.

”You don’t need to worry about that anymore. She came here last night. Chesh is always running off.” The old man narrowed his eyes and for a moment did nothing. Only after half a minute did he take a deep breath and slowly nod.

”I see.” he turned away and looked at the two. ”You must ensure she arrives at Last Hope. Lord Raven himself wishes for it. Do not disappoint him.” With a nod, the two looked at Alice and indicated for her to follow. Stepping out of the fort, the two led Alice towards a set of three horses and looked at her.

”Do you know how to ride?” The woman asked. Her voice was strange, much like the scar on her face; each word was followed by a sound almost like glass shattering.

”No.” Alice quickly replied. The two looked at one another, with the woman walking close to the man and whispering soemthing. With a smirk, he nodded, and the two sat down. Waddling over, Alice knelt beside them and watched as they held out their hands to one another with their palms facing down. For a moment neither did anything, until the woman moved, bringing her hand up and down, trying to slap the man.

It all happened in an instant, and barely reacting, he pulled away the hand about to be hit, countering by trying to slap the woman’s hand. Back and forth the two went, masterfully avoiding each other’s slaps and, unable to get the other, until finally the man baited the woman, twitching his hand so she would pull away from it, and hit with his other hand.

”Fuck.” Swearing under her breath, the two rose, patting themselves down and looking at Alice once more. ”You will ride with me.”

”I can learn to ride a horse?”

”Not in a day, you can’t. It doesn’t matter; just be still when we ride. Luckily, you’re quite small, so it shouldn’t be too hard on her.” Patting the side of the steed’s neck, the woman chuckled, ”Besides, it’s probably for the best you ride with me. You and your kind tend to seek out danger. This way you won’t run off.”

Frowning, Alice wanted to say soemthing, but stopped when the man reached into the bag attached to the side of his horse. Pulling out a map, he unfurled it and showed the two. ”The plan is we shall arrive in Lasting Feast first. There we can restock supplies and have a good rest. From there we head to Last Hope.” His voice was deep, incredibly so, almost like the muscles in his body were suffocating his throat to stop it from being any higher.

Staring at the map, Alice couldn’t help but be slightly confused. ”Isn’t the map too empty?” Both raised an eyebrow for her to explain. ”Teacher had shown me a map of Veston before. Hardly any of it was left blank, yet you only have a few places.”

”Because there is not... no, that’s not right.” The man spoke and corrected himself. ”The eight main settlements are really the only permanent places for people to live, bar those around the Gateway. There are a few minor settlements throughout this land, but they are more nomadic than stationary. Lord Raven has made deals with those groups. In return for not entering certain places or passing certain boundaries, they can have freedom of movement. It worked out fine becuase majority of the places he orders not to be approached are those they avoid anyway.”

”That reminds me.” The girl spoke up, ”Do you have Lord Goodson’s seal to permit our travel?” The man nodded, making the lady sigh in relief.

”Anyway, the land between the settlements isn’t empty. There is a lot of danger in them. Those nomads are fine because they have learnt the habits of all that lives here, but for us, we must take set courses.” Placing his finger on the map, he traced a path. ”This is it for us, with slight deviation possible. If we meet the nomads, however, it will be far easier.”

”Now, girl. I know the Magi love knowledge and the unknown.” The woman cut in with a serious tone, ”But whatever you hear when we travel can never be trusted. Not even our voices. Should you lose sight of us, do not follow our calls; rather...” Pulling out a whistle from his pocket, the woman softly blew into it, making a serene melody. ”Only this sound can be trusted when separated. Follow that noise, here.” Handing one to Alice, she smiled, ”Should we need to find you, blow that whistle; never shout.”

”Why?”

”Because you don’t know what is listening to you. The fools beyond the mountain do not understand the horrors that hide behind it, but I hope the Magi are different and believe our words.” Alice closed her eyes. She had no reason not to believe them and shrugged.

”Is that why his sword has so many runes? Then what about you, do you have a weapon like him? What will we see, actually?” His interest in the runes spiralled, thinking about the mystery that waited for her. The two couldn’t help but suppress their tired groans, seeing Alice’s total excitement at what was to come, wondering if their warnings were even listened to.