Cleansing Fire
Chapter 23: The River Side

It was a relief to finally see the lights of Erya on the other side of the river. Marius had had a few moments of doubt as the forest went on and on, seemingly without end. When it had come, the village had appeared suddenly, rising out of the darkness.

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As he drew nearer the lights, he began to feel a strange excitement course through his body. This is where it would all end; he would find Mistress Arfor, rescue Kaylee and go on with his life. This time there would be no escape and he was somehow certain that the voice wouldn’t be stopping him from moving.

He reached the shore opposite the village and saw that there was a small dock that he could use to get inside. There were no gates – the village was small enough that they had no particular concern for their safety. Besides, who would attack from the river side?

He slipped noiselessly into the water and struck out with broad, powerful strokes. The river was quite docile here when compared to downstream but it was still quite an effort to make headway upstream. After a few minutes of working, he felt his toes touch rock and he reached out to touch the side of the dock. Somewhere around the side there would be a ladder, meant for easy access to both the dock underside and boats. It took him a few moments of feeling around to find the wet rungs. He tested his weight on one – it would be terrible to slip and fall now, after he’d come so far. The first one held and he started his climb upwards. The rungs were slippery with the accumulated slime of years but he managed to hang on.

I’m coming Kaylee. It’ll all be over soon.

For once, the voice in his head was silent.

Magnus and Lori rode into Erya without any particular incident. The guard at the gate lazily waved them on without even looking at them. Lori almost leaned down and asked him if he’d seen the two women they were looking for but Magnus’ hand on her arm restrained her. She supposed she knew where they would be – it just seemed like a good idea to get as much information as she could.

Like Indus, Erya had only one main road with everything laid out on either side of it. It was a relatively simple thing to find the house they were looking for. It was easily recognisable from Lori’s painting. They tethered their horses outside and opened the door quietly. The woman inside shouldn’t be particularly worried about being found so she shouldn’t be on high alert but it never hurt to be cautious.

Marius watched Magnus and Lori go into a house off the road and smiled. So that’s where they are. He flicked his hands open and allowed a tiny flame to dance from fingertip to fingertip. He’d been practicing all day for this.

Your cudgel won’t help you much tonight. By midnight I’ll have all the answers I need.

He walked stealthily towards the house, looking for the best way to get in. Should he just use the front door, as they had? No. Rather one of the windows. That way he would be sure to keep the element of surprise.

Neither Magnus and Lori nor Marius noticed the eyes watching them approach the house. She watched them for a while, toying with the idea of sounding the alarm but decided it would be much more fun to sit and watch as events unfolded.

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