Cleansing Fire
Chapter 16: Meetings in the Dark

Marius staggered through the woods, letting his legs carry him without really looking at where he was going. All he knew was that he was heading towards a village that the voice had told him to find. He’d been forced to keep off the main roads, not wanting to run into either Guards or Thieves. No doubt his description had been circulated to all the garrisons by now. They took escape quite seriously in the city.

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He’d never been to Indus before but his body seemed to know where to go anyway. He was far more concerned with what was happening inside anyway. With the voice in his head now an almost constant companion, he felt like he was going insane. Every now and then something unexpected would happen when he let his mind wander. So far he’d had to put out three fires along the way – this was getting dangerous. He knew enough about rogue magicians to know that they usually died in horrible ways. It was necessary for someone to be there to guide them or the magic consumed them. Gods, how can I have magic? I’m far too old to manifest it now. All the apprentices he’d seen go off to the Academy had been ten years or younger – it was unheard of for someone as old as him to suddenly start showing powers. Of course it is - which is why I had to give it a nudge. You’ll need it in the days to come.

Who are you? Answer me dammit! Are you really there? What have you done to me?

He laughed quietly; the humour of talking to a voice in his head seemed too rich to pass up. A small flame sprang up and hovered in front of his face and he gave a start before realising that it must have been something he’d done. He’d have to learn to control his thoughts if he was going to make it through all this.

Why are we going to Indus? What’s there?

This time, the voice deigned to answer him though managing to sound irritated about having to do it.

The one you’ve been looking for of course. Or at least that’s where she was. It’ll be enough for you to find a trail anyway. Now leave me alone – I’ve very busy right now.

Marius rolled his eyes and giggled softly. Things had come to a pretty pass when the voice in your head was too busy to talk to you. He realised that he could no longer see the full moon through the trees and he shuddered. Each night he woke in a cold sweat, seeing the wolf again, seeing it tearing at Rumas and the other thieves sent to kill him.

Without thinking about what he was doing, he extended a hand and a glowing ball of light appeared above it. When he saw what he had done he almost dropped it in surprise. I really need to start controlling my thoughts.

There was no response in his head so he simply trudged on, not trying to speak anymore. He let the ball of light stay though; it was good to have something besides the oppressive darkness.

By the time he saw the lights of Indus up ahead, he had lost count of the number of hours he’d been walking through the forest. The moon had reappeared and at some point the little light had left as quietly as it had arrived. He wasn’t sure what scared him more, the fact that it had come without his noticing or that it had left in the same way. Either way probably means the magic is getting too much for me. I have to find the killer soon, before I die. At least then I’ll be with Kaylee again.

The road, when he finally came to it, was just as dusty and pitted as all the others in the area. Besides the main roads into and around Dunriver, nobody much seemed to care. He knew he must be filthy by now so avoided the main road going into the village. All he really wanted right now was a place to sleep. It seemed like forever since he had slept in a comfortable bed. Not that there was any chance of that here – if he was lucky he would manage to sneak into a hayloft and get a few hours of rest.

He spotted a likely looking inn, one with big stables and headed for it, ducking into the shadows of an alleyway when an elderly couple came out of one of the houses. Indus looked to be a very small village – just a road leading through the centre with a place for the coaches from the bigger cities to stop in. He couldn’t imagine what a murderer would be doing somewhere as small as this. Why not flee to one of the cities, hide out there? It made no sense to him.

Hush. Everything will be clear in time. I’m sure you’re exhausted – go find yourself somewhere soft to lie.

He was quite tired at that, perhaps his voice was right and he should go find somewhere to bed down for the night. Perhaps in one of the alleyways radiating off the main road – in the lee of a house or a shop. He’d have to be gone before the sun rose in the morning; people wouldn’t take kindly to him sleeping there.

What about the stables? They look a good size. I’ll bet there’s a hayloft there for a tired young man like yourself.

He snorted to himself and carried on walking, straight towards the inn this time. When he got to it, he saw that it was at least relatively empty. Only one coach was in the yard and all the lights were out. He snuck quietly through the gate, flinching as the inn’s sign creaked in the wind. The Golden Perch. An unlikely name as any he’d ever seen. In his experience, most of these places seemed to choose grandiose names for themselves. The fancier the name, the worse the fare usually. With a name like that, this place probably had the most awful beer.

The doors to the stable were unlocked and he quietly let himself in. He’d have to be careful to not disturb any horses that might be here or he’d have many questions to answer. Fortunately, the moonlight was streaming in through the windows providing more than enough light for him to navigate. Only two stalls were occupied – no doubt the horses for the single coach outside. The inn really was quite empty.

He climbed the ladder into the hayloft and made a small patch to lie on.

He was just about to close his eyes when he heard the doors open again. Someone else was coming into the stable. He hoped they wouldn’t look up into the hayloft. He’d managed to avoid everyone so far and he wanted to keep it that way.

He carefully slid forward, making no noise and looked down into the stable. He thought his heart would explode from his chest when he saw who had come in. Kaylee stood in the entrance, looking around the room, her eyes adjusting to the darkness. The relief was palpable as he looked at her – she looked bedraggled and more than a little dirty but seemed basically healthy.

He tried to push himself up, wanting to run to her. Something held him down, preventing him from moving. He tried to shout to her, to let her know that he was here but nothing came out. Try as he might, he couldn’t do anything.

Sit still, boy. It’s hard enough holding you without you struggling to break my hold. Now isn’t the time – there’s something you need to see first.

Let me go! It’s Kaylee, Kaylee’s down there. I need to help her, to go to her! LET ME GO!

There was no response to his agonised shouting; all he could do was glare and look down at her, wanting so much to go to her, to touch her face again, just to be with her.

In the next moment, the door was pushed open again and Kaylee spun around, fumbling for a knife she carried at her waist. Had it not been for the voice’s strict control over his body, Marius would have gasped aloud.

Mistress Arfor had walked into the stable, holding a lantern in one hand and clutching a cudgel in the other.

Kaylee backed away at the sight of the other woman and Marius could see the fear in her eyes.

“How did you find me? I know I covered my tracks. Unless… some kind of spell? Please, just let me go on my way. I have to find Marius, I have to!”

Mistress Arfor chuckled, setting the lantern down on the ground and switching the cudgel from hand to hand.

“Thought you’d get away that easily, child? I’m smarter than I look. Now are you going to come quietly or do I have to use this,” she said, punctuating her words with the cudgel slapping into her palm.

Why is she doing this? Why won’t you let me help her!?

Kaylee’s shoulders slumped and she dropped the knife to the floor, her arms hanging at her sides.

“What’s the point? You’ll just track me down again. Besides, you’ll see. Things will work out for me.”

The older woman chuckled at that and took a length of rope from her belt, throwing it to Kaylee.

“Loop that around your wrists like I showed you before. Go on.”

She watched like a hawk as Kaylee slowly wrapped her wrists with the rope. Once she was done, Arfor extended her hands and the ropes started to move, twisting together. Marius soon lost count of the number of twists and turns that formed the complicated knot. When she was satisfied, Mistress Arfor stepped forward and grabbed the rope, pulling Kaylee towards the door. Marius tried to struggle, every muscle in his body crying out in protest. Something still held him firmly in place, allowing no part of him to move.

Soon the other two were out of the door, closing it quietly again. Marius fumed at the voice, shouting obscenities in his mind. This time there was no response. His curses fell into the silence in his head. He could feel the forced sleep trying to take over again.

Damn you! Why are you doing this to me? Release me! I need to help her! KAYLEE!

Even as he thrashed inside his mind, his head began to sink towards the hay and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Just before he lost consciousness, the voice answered him, after a fashion.

I really am sorry about this. What will be, will be and what is, is sufficient. The catechism had always irritated him before and it did nothing to soothe his crazed mind now.

Darkness folded over him and he slept.

When he woke up at last, daylight was seeping through under the door and there was light at the windows. He tried to move and was relieved to find that he could. They could still be here. I have to find them!

Without giving the voice a chance to respond, he sprang from the hay and almost fell down the ladder, moving as quickly as he could. When he reached the bottom, he sprinted across the stable and wrenched open the door. A man standing just outside holding some spare tack stared at him as he bolted from the room.

“Hey! You can’t be in there! That’s private property!”

Marius ignored the man and kept going till he reached the Inn’s door. That’s where they would have to be. There was nowhere else to stay in the village. He was about to open it when he realised that the coach had gone. Had someone moved it? Were the horses still in the stables?

He turned around and ran back towards the still bewildered man, waving his arms and shouting.

“The coach!” When the man just looked at him in puzzlement, Marius grabbed him by the lapels and leaned in close to his face.

“The coach, man! The coach. Where is it gone? Did someone move it or…” he couldn’t finish the thought, if they’d taken off in the coach, they’d be far away by now.

“No…no, nobody moved it. Strangest thing, last night. This woman bursts into the inn, rouses Bail from his sleep and buys the coach, right then. Even sleep-fogged, Bail tried to drive the price up but she just paid whatever he asked until she had the coach and the only two horses too! Headed off to the city as if demons were on her heels. Not sure how I’m supposed to get people on to Dunriver now. They’ll wake soon and then there’ll be hell to pay.”

He scratched his head, seeming to realise that he was telling everything he knew to a complete stranger. And a dirty looking one at that.

“Now who’re you and what were you doing in the stable? I been down on my luck a time or two so I promise I won’t tell anyone. You don’t look too dangerous to me. Names Thomas by the way.”

Marius just stared at the man and, releasing his lapels, let him babble on. He sat on the ground, his head in his hands. He’d been so close to them! At least now he knew who had burned down the house. He couldn’t fathom why Mistress Arfor would do anything like that but he aimed to find out. Gods, Kaylee! I was so, so close! Why couldn’t you have looked up and seen me. At least then you’d know I was coming for you!

He gave a start as he heard Thomas yelling something. He sounded quite desperate and it was only when Marius glanced up at him that he saw that the stable was on fire, flames licking up through the roof, cracking the glass in the windows.

“Fire! Fire! Up and to the wells! Fire!” Thomas’ voice was strident now, loud enough to wake the dead. Fire could be a serious problem in a village as small as this. With everything packed right next to each other it could spread quickly, devastating the whole area.

Marius stared at the fire, knowing that he had caused it somehow. He had let his thoughts wander again. Time to get out of here now, Marius. There’ll be at least one Guard even in this flyspeck. Get going, now!

Against his will, he started walking away from the Inn, hunching his shoulders and trying to keep out of sight. Gods, why must you force me to do these things? I should stay and help those people – that’s someone’s livelihood burning there!

Some things are more important than others, boy.

Thanks to the circuitous route he’d taken getting to Indus, he was quite a way from the city now. He’d walked most of the day, trudging along and letting his body guide him. He’d given up on shouting at the voice long ago – he’d figured out that it simply ignored him if he kept going so there seemed little point.

He knew he was still on the right route at least – though it had been hours since he’d seen a guide post. He was unable to walk along the main road for fear of being seen and the trees that flanked it grew thickly so his progress was slower than he’d like.

Twilight came shockingly quickly, the forest around him being plunged into darkness. He thought he could risk walking along the road in the dark – it shouldn’t present too much of a problem. Almost nobody travelled during the night anyway.

He’d only been walking along the road for ten minutes or so when he heard the sound of galloping hooves. So much for there being nobody on the road!

He quickly ducked back into the trees and lay down beneath one of the bushes, opening it a little so he could see the road. He’d managed to get out of the open just in time – a group of three horses, two with riders, galloped into view. They shot past the bush where he was hiding and just as he was about to clamber out of the bush, they slowed to a canter. He heard one of them shout something and they wheeled about, heading back down the road towards him. He held his breath as they slowed to a walk a few meters from where he lay. He could see them now, an elderly man and a young woman leading the third stallion. She wore a loose cloak that covered her auburn hair. The cloak didn’t quite manage to cover the robes that she was wearing. Someone from the Academy. What would she be doing out here? Now he looked carefully, the man was much older than her, his hair mostly grey, with a neatly trimmed moustache. He was tall but quite slight and he sat his horse well while she seemed to cling to hers. They put their heads together and he could hear the sound of their talking. They seemed to be arguing – though they were too far away for him to be able to tell much more than that.

She tossed her head, the hood falling down to reveal a pretty face, with tilted eyes and she walked her horse a little closer down the road. The man stretched out a hand as if to stop her, thought better of it and simply held on to his saddle.

She was getting close to where he was hiding – he wondered if she was using some kind of magic to scour the bushes. But why here? He was sure he’d been out of sight by the time they’d come down the road. Was it possible they’d seen him duck into the bushes? No, if they had, they wouldn’t have galloped past and then returned. Something was drawing her here.

“Marius. Come out. We know you’re there. We mean you no harm, there’s no need to hide from us. We have something very important to tell you.”

He lay still beneath the bushes, his eyes popping with surprise. How does she know my name? Who is this woman?

For the first time in hours, he heard the voice. It was laughing at him.

You must learn to listen to me, Marius. Things will be much smoother that way.

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