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Tara shook her head. “I still can’t believe she’s gone,” she muttered. “You know that animal was finally starting to grow on me.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Lex scoffed, leaning on the side rail of the cart as it tumbled down the road. “We’ve been listening to you bitch about that horse for months and now that she’s gone you finally admit you liked her?” He turned to Nedarya. “How do you put up with this?”
Nedarya laughed like a bell ringing in the breeze. “There are a lot of layers to work through.”
“Don’t you start siding with twiggy over here,” Tara said, shooting a playful glare at her.
Dusk couldn’t stop himself from smiling. Even though he was sad that Maribel had gone away from them, he was happy to know she was safe. That and it gave them all a reason to talk again instead of sitting on the cart all day, brooding in the sun. Listening to Tara and Lex bicker again was a welcome sound, one he’d grown so used to in the past few months. When they were at each other, it meant things were good. He wanted it to stay that way.
The cart continued down the road, becoming more defined as they neared the edge of the city. Dusk turned to watch the low thatch buildings grow nearer. The breeze shifted and he caught the scent of smoke, cooking food, and fish. Although the town was small, all he could hear was the chattering of people going about their business echoing down the road. A few docks stretched out into the calm waters of the large bay. It remained smooth thanks to being shielded from the open ocean by the massive island that held Anthurium Mountain some handful of miles away. It was an impressive sight. The water was crystalline and light, the sun reflecting off the white sandy bottom in the shallows. Dusk lifted his gaze over to the two ships moored at the docks and recognized their make. One was the same type of ship that he’d sailed on south of Ditania on their way to Inahan, while the other was similar to the one he’d destroyed before they made it to Watersedge. It made him nervous knowing there were most likely Inahandrian soldiers in the town, but he figured they were too far north to be recognized by anyone. If any soldiers were about, they’d been there for some time.
As they came around the corner of a dense clump of pine trees, Dusk was surprised to see a large number of tents and camp sites set up near the other homes. People milled about, tending to their fires and cooking in metal pots hung over the flames. Some moved between the interiors of the houses and the tents frequently. Everyone who wasn’t attending children or fires seemed to be working together to build extra shelters. Over on the northern side of town there were trees being pulled down and stripped of their branches. Most were being hewn for lumber and whatever was left was chopped for firewood. A few small houses were already framed and being slowly assembled, their doors and windows partially framed. It looked as if many of the refugees that had fled to Birchwood planned to make it their new home.
However, Dusk and the others noticed a few people wandering about wearing the telltale blue Inahandrian Army tunics. Some of them had armor on with weapons at their sides and were stationed at the road, but the majority were stripped of armaments and helping anyone too young, old, or frail to help themselves. The soldiers at the entrance to the village turned to face them as they rounded the corner, only a couple hundred feet away.
“Keep your head down and your mouths shut,” Tara commanded from the driver's seat. “We’re just refugees on our way north, just like everyone else. That’s the story.”
Dusk nodded while Lex gave her a sarcastic salute. “Yes, captain,” he said in a silly voice.
“If you get us killed here Lex, I swear...”
“Don’t do that in front of your girlfriend,” Lex quipped, plopping back down in the cart next to Dusk. “Wouldn’t want her to think less of you.”
Tara shot a look back at him as they bumped towards the gate on the uneven road. Nedarya had to stifle a smile as they closed the distance, the soldiers in full view. As the cart came within a few feet of them, one raised a hand to them.
“Halt!” he called out, stepping forward with a hand resting on the sword hilt at his side.
Dusk clenched his jaw nervously, waiting for the unending stream of questions to assail them. He hoped Tara would be able to talk her way out of this one. Her track record was a bit mixed in that department, but she was the most commanding of the four of them.
“Are any of you hurt?” the soldier asked, a surprising look of concern on his face.
“N-no... we’re all fine,” Tara replied, obviously taken aback.
“Don’t worry, we have plenty of food and space for you here. Everyone is welcome.” He looked to Dusk and Lex in the back of the cart. “Where are you traveling from?”
“Bend,” Nedarya cut in. “It was one of the small towns that was burned along the Dorsum Mountains. They came in the dead of night,” she whimpered, turning her head downwards. We barely escaped...”
“We’ve been hearing reports over the past few weeks. I’m glad to see that you made it out alive. Did you happen to catch sight of the culprits causing the fires?”
“Ditanian soldiers,” Tara replied quickly. “We saw their uniforms.”
“That’s what I was afraid of,” he sighed. “I do ask that you not harbor any prejudice here as there are a few soldiers from Ditania taking refuge among us.” All four of them looked at him simultaneously. He held up his hands to calm them. “Everyone here is no longer allied with either side. Every soldier in this village is a defector and done fighting a senseless war. There aren’t many of us, but we have a common duty, to protect the people. However, the difference is we have chosen not to take sides and protect the people of this town.
“Birchwood has become a place of peace and acceptance,” he continued, his gaze shifting between them, as if checking for any signs of distrust or anger. “We’re building a haven outside the reach of the monarchs. All are welcome as long as they vow to maintain that peace. You’re not required to stay, but you are more than welcome if you wish. We could use more strong hands and even use your beasts if you are willing to part with them.”
“We need to get to the mountain,” Tara nodded towards the monolith in the distance surrounded by the ocean. “We’ve come to hire a ship to take us there.”
“You’ll need to talk to the council about that, I'm afraid. All the boats in the harbor are under their control in case someone attacks us. We fear it may come at any time from Queen Lobelia since she’s undoubtedly learned of our betrayal.”
“Oh she’s g—” Dusk began.
“We’ll talk to them,” Tara responded, cutting Dusk off. “Thank you for your help.”
“If there’s anything else I can do, just let me know,” he said, giving her a slight bow.
“Thank you.”
Tara gave the reins a flick and the cart began to rumble forward. The soldiers watched them for a moment before turning back to the east, keeping an eye on the empty road for more travelers. He waited for a minute to pass before he crawled up the cart to the driver’s seat.
“Don’t tell anyone about Calendia,” Tara said, anticipating his question. “Places like these have happened before and it never ends well. Defectors and people with grand ideas create a very unstable foundation. They talk about everlasting peace, doing things for the good of the many, and creating some grand utopia, but it never works. Not to mention they attract the most unsavory people you can imagine.” She glanced back at Dusk, her face wearing a dark expression. “I guarantee this place will be under the rule of some charismatic maniac in less than a year. It always comes out that way.” Tara pulled on the reins, slowing the horses a bit as the houses closed in around them. “It’s in our best interest to keep any information we have to ourselves. If they knew the queen was dethroned, we may throw their entire town into chaos. Or worse, they may set sail for Calendia and leave us stranded here without a boat.”
“Do you think the council will help us?” Dusk asked from behind her, still processing everything she’d said.
“Captain Benbow’s letter is useless now that they’ve defected. Her power came with her position.” Tara sighed, keeping the horses at a slow walk to avoid hitting anyone in the crowded streets. “We can try, but I don’t know how good our chances will be.”
“How are we going to get there then?” Lex added, sitting next to Dusk. “It’s not like we can swim there. I suppose we could build a rowboat and give it our best shot.”
“I don’t know what we’ll have to do,” Tara muttered. “But we’ll exhaust our resources first before we have to get creative. I’d rather leave this place without a fight if possible.”
***
Tara opted to go over to the council’s meeting place alone later that afternoon, leaving Dusk, Lex, and Nedarya at the nameless tavern in town. It was crowded, but they’d managed to secure a small dingy table in the back corner along with three tankards of watered-down ale. It wasn’t much, but it was a warm place to sit while they waited. The food they could get consisted mostly of fish. It seemed the small village was already strapped for grains and vegetables of any kind. The tavern maiden had apologized, saying that new fields were being plowed every day and many new vegetable patches had been planted between the houses. They hoped within the next couple of months to have more to eat than just fish and whatever the forest could provide, but for now, the sea was their main source of fare.
Dusk and Lex sat quietly for a time, keeping mostly to themselves. Whenever Dusk looked up though he could see Nedarya scanning the room, as if she was looking for someone. He leaned in closer to her, keeping his drink near his mouth.
“Is something wrong?” he asked, his voice barely audible over the others filling the tavern.
“Yes,” she replied. “This is taking too long. We need to get to the island. We need a boat.”
“Tara is working on it,” Dusk said. “She’ll probably get through to them.”
“I want a guarantee,” she scoffed. She turned to see the look of surprise on Dusk’s face and quickly smiled. “I mean, a backup plan would be a good thing to have, right? That way we don’t get stuck here for longer than intended. You heard what Tara said, these places can be dangerous if we’re here for too long.”
“I suppose so...”
Nedarya slammed back the rest of her ale, thunking the tankard on the table. “I’m going to go mingle and see what I can come up with. See you boys in a bit.”
Dusk watched as she pushed herself up from the table, adjusted her hair, and strode off into the crowd, disappearing amongst them. It took only a moment for him to lose sight of her and try as he might, he couldn’t find her again. He gave up trying and settled back into his seat next to Lex, pushing the tankard away from him. The ale in Birchwood was all bitterness.
“Something is odd about her,” Lex muttered, his gaze turned towards Dusk. “I can’t place it, but she seems... I don’t know... maybe a little uptight I guess? Impatient maybe?”
“You probably would be too if you had been brought back from the dead, experimented on, and then almost forced into magical slavery.”
“You know, you’re probably right,” Lex shrugged, taking another sip of his ale. “Gods this shit is awful. If they water this down anymore we might as well be drinking straight from the horse trough.”
That made Dusk think about Maribel and how he missed her scent, especially in a tavern full of people who sweat all day long doing hard labor. “Maybe we should go find a place to set up for the night,” Dusk sighed, wanting some fresh air.
“Good idea. I’ll leave word with the barmaid so those two can find us when they come back.”
Lex and Dusk left their unfinished tankards at the table, had a quick talk with the barmaid, and exited the crowded tavern. While they’d been waiting inside, the sun had set, casting the world into deep twilight. The village however was alight with many torches, illuminating the streets and tents all around them. Tara had already sold the horses and the cart earlier that day, so they hefted their packs to their shoulders and struck out west towards the far side of town. Once they’d gone beyond the edge of most of the camps, they chose a spot and began to set up their sleeping arrangements for the night. It was less than an hour before Tara found them sitting on the ground around a small fire. She walked up, threw her bag on the ground, then flopped down next to the crackling logs.
“That doesn’t bode well,” Lex said, not pulling his gaze from the flames. “No boat?”
“Nope! No fucking piece of shit stupid bitch boat,” Tara growled, throwing her arms up.
“Did they say why?” he asked, unimpressed by her string of obscenities.
“Apparently they say the island is haunted or some shit and anyone who goes there dies. It was just a bunch of bullshit superstitions.”
“Did they care about the captain’s letter at all?”
“I tried that too,” she sighed. “They seemed impressed that we knew Captain Benbow, but since they are no longer part of the Inahandrian Army, they felt it necessary not to comply with her orders out of spite or some newfound sense of duty I suppose.” She pulled out the letter and tossed it into the fire. The flames curled around the parchment, turning it to ash and ember. “Buncha fucking assholes. All they wanted to talk about was this perfect world they were going to build where everyone is happy all the time. They’ll just wander around all day singing and being happy and shitting diamonds. I hate foolishly optimistic people!” She leaned forward, her forehead resting in her hands. “We came all this way just to be tripped at the finish line.”
“Not necessarily,” a sing-song voice said from behind them.
Dusk looked up to see Nedarya striding up to their camp, flipping a long pale blonde braid over her shoulder. She wore a prideful smile on her face and had a skip in her step that was new.
“I found us a boat,” she chuckled, taking a seat next to Tara and pulling her braid forward through her fingers.
“How did you manage that?” Tara asked, looking like she just realized that Nedarya had been missing. “Where have you been? Why did you wander off? What were you doing?”
“So many questions! I’m not a child you know,” Nedarya scoffed. “I told them,” she said, pointing to Dusk and Lex. “I’ve been out getting us a boat. I knew the council wouldn’t give you one, not with the rumors about the island.”
“You knew about those?”
“No, but I found out as soon as I batted my eyes and started to ask questions.” She gave a sly smile to the three of them. “They think the woods around the base of the mountain are filled with monsters and haunted by spirits. One of them said the beach is safe enough, but the woods are when people disappear. Especially in the mist.”
“We can handle that,” Dusk replied. “We've done it before. It can’t be much worse than what the Circle has thrown at us. A little fog won’t hurt us, not after Louring.”
“Who’s taking us to the island?” Tara asked, her lips pressed into a tight line, ignoring Dusk and obviously perturbed at Nedarya for going off on her own.
“Don’t worry about it,” she responded with a wave of her hand. “Just be packed and ready to sneak out to the docks tomorrow night.”