The merchant that we were looking for wasn’t far away, from those ruins. From the side of the road, the carriage we were looking for looked a lot like many of the carts that we had passed, big, wood, with what looked like a cabin of sorts. Outside of the cart, the merchant had set-up stalls in front of the carriage.
“Ello, ello, welcome.” A cheerful voice calls out from inside the cart. A lanky dark-skinned man with numerous freckles exits the carriage. Though I had the impression of him folding himself out of it, it wasn’t that the carts’ door was short or anything. Just that the man getting out of it made the door look tiny in comparison. Even Frederick, though a large and muscular man himself, seemed to be at least a good head and a half shorter. Holy shit was this guy tall.
“Good to see you old friend,” Frederick said, his face warmly showing the hints of a smile under those darkened sleep-deprived eyes. “Aye yes, it is so good to see you little Freddy,” The other said with an open-mouthed smile. The tall man seemed to have spotted me as he pointed towards me with one of his bony fingers. “New help?” He asked.
“Something like that, he and a girl ended up stranded here after being taken by Elsewhere, or so I was told.”
“Ah, I see. It’s a pleasure to meet you my name is Oscar Merch the 3rd,” he said to me. I introduced myself quickly, and after-wards Oscar turned back to Frederick.
“Where have you been Oscar?” Frederick asked as he grasped hands with the tall man in a friendly manner. Oscar shrugged, “Lately the roads have been dangerous.” Oscar's fist clenched for a moment before he tried to put his hands behind his back subtly. It seemed that Frederick hadn’t missed the reaction either as he eyed the taller man dubiously. “What happened Oscar?” Frederick asked concerned.
Oscar seemed torn, he shook his head no, but he did seem to want to say. Frederick put a large hand on Oscar's shoulder, “You’ve been more than just a business partner to my mother and I. Remember how you helped mom after the death of dad? We couldn’t have made it through the first couple of years without you Oscar.” Was Frederick comforting? He seemed more like the sort to smash your face into a pulp. It was odd seeing a man who exudes violence like him to try to appease someone. I guess there is more to a man then what it seems.
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“Ah, I suppose if you insist,” Oscar said exhaling softly. “We were on the way to Jespira when bandits attacked my caravan. They came out during the full moon. Do you remember Derth? Skilled man that one was, he along with two of my other men were killed in the initial attack.” His face winced, “Not only that but the scoundrels harmed my precious Aunna and ran off with a good stock of my food stores.
“How bad was Aunna harmed?” Frederick asked. “Thankfully she will live…” Oscar’s face darkened he clenched his eyes shut as if trying to hold back tears, “I fear that she may never be the same though.”
“Did you catch any sort of identity?
“No, all I know is that they were Demi-Humans, they were big like you Freddy, but they looked more like wolves than men.” Frederick nodded listening, though his eyes slit slightly.
"I could tell that they are well practiced they knew what they were doing. I wasn’t the only one that has been attacked, and hearing from the other Merchants, they always seem to strike a full moon. At first, I suspected that they might have been tainted, but now I’m unsure."
There it is again, what exactly do they mean by the tainted? “Excuse me,” I interrupted before Oscar could continue. “What exactly do you mean by tainted?” Oscar and Frederick both looked at me in surprise.
“Ah yes, I suppose that you're an otherworlder so you would be ignorant,” Oscar said. “They are Demi-humans who have been corrupted by some force.”
“How do they get corrupted?”
“I don’t know. But they first started appearing 12 years ago. But they’ve been wreaking havoc since.”
Oscar blinked hard and then went back to his cart. “Here they are.” Oscar came out holding a few parcels, “We ought to get Jean her order shouldn’t we?” He apparently was done talking about what had happened. The three of us went through the supplies of the merchant. Parchment, spices, different types of foods. It looks like Jean had ordered quite a bit. Slowly the donkey-led cart that we had brought was filled.
“Oscar, be sure to visit the inn before you leave, the next meal is on the house for you,” Frederick said. Oscar smiled, he had the same face that he had when we first had seen him, jovial, friendly almost even carefree, it was so strange to see him look like that when the opposite had been so apparent not terribly long ago. “Don’t you worry Frederick, I couldn’t leave without seeing sweet Jean.
While traveling along the road, we crossed paths with that ruin again.”Stay away from that ruin kid; it’s nothing but bad news.” Frederick must have noticed me staring at it still.
“Why, what’s wrong with it?” I asked.
“The place is dangerous, very dangerous.” He replied. “I would stay far away from there.”
“What’s so dangerous about it?” He didn’t respond to the question and instead guided the donkey past the ruin and into the main road. I couldn’t help but look back a few times at where the ruins were. A burning sensation seemed to rake against my chest at the thought of it. He was probably right but knowing who I am feels more critical than that vague danger. But what happened to that creature that was in my dream of the ruins? Wasn’t it still there, was it? Thinking these and other thoughts we finally turned to the main road.