The next morning arrived swiftly. Everyone gathered at the northern edge of town with their supplies. The merchant who owned the caravan was the esteemed Sir Duncan Filbus. He made sure to introduce himself to Damian and Astrid. Before, when Pert first brought him to the inn, I had a decent first impression of the man. That impression had since soured greatly. He treated Sadie poorly the moment he saw her, he flirted with Astrid and worst of all, he constantly stared at Jaime. She never noticed, but if looks could kill, she’d be dead right now. He never did it with any strange expressions; his face was always blank when he saw her.
The caravan consisted of four carts, plus the one that Pert drove which had been piled high with lumber. The two freelancers rode with Pert on his cart while Jaime and Hamil rode in one of the covered wagons filled with large wooden boxes. Every box was the same size and was nailed shut. I peeked inside each one to find that they were full of an assortment of colored ores. Bark had tried to get inside a couple of the boxes, but Hamil stopped him each time, setting the wooden dog back into his lap where it curled up.
At the head of the caravan, Sir Duncan sat quietly, staring at the road ahead. From what I heard, it would be a full day’s travel to Renae. There was a tenseness in his appearance, like he was nervous about something. Getting a better look at the man, I felt that I recognized him from somewhere. Something in the back of my mind told me that it was from my time as a soldier, but there were so many names and faces that it was hard to believe that I would remember one.
Jaime and Hamil, who were both occupied with the training that their teachers had given them started to speak. I was oblivious to it at first, but Jaime started to feel some strong emotions. I rushed back to find the two kids in a hushed conversation.
“So they’re both…” Jaime whispered, her face bright.
Hamil seemed to have an even brighter smile on his face than Jaime as he hushed her. “She never actually said anything, but I could… feel it. During our training, I think I felt her emotions.”
“I can’t say that I felt it, but something has been telling me that he feels the same.” Jaime replied, her eyes pointed towards the cart behind them.
On Pert’s cart, both Astrid and Damian were sitting awkwardly. The seating for his cart was on the outside all the way around, so they both sat opposite of Pert, facing either side of the road. Damian was obvious with how he looked around impatiently, but Astrid was much better at hiding it. At first glance, she seemed perfectly fine, but after looking more closely, I could see that she was bouncing her leg up and down rapidly.
“So what do we do?” Jaime asked in a hushed voice, her eyes brimming with excitement.
“We need to get them to tell each other. I’ll work on Astrid. You work on Damian.”
The kids nodded to each other and continued their training. I knew about Damian’s feelings, but I’d never have guessed that Astrid liked him back. It was almost like watching young teenagers, shy with their feelings. My Jaime and I did something similar with Levi. He was the younger of our sons and was very shy while his older brother was almost fearless. Him and Callum were nearly inseparable as children and Callum was very protective of his younger brother. Any of the kids around that tried to pick on Levi would receive a verbal beat down from him. He could have easily resorted to violence, but would always choose to solve things peacefully if he could. He was always very well spoken. We considered sending him to get a better education, but then I was drafted and everything fell apart. I wanted more for Jaime, more than I could give when I was alive.
For the next few hours, I hovered in the air above the caravan, searching the distance for anything that might look suspicious or dangerous. The road ahead was clear for quite a while. I stretched out far enough to see the checkpoint and the small stone building set in the middle of the road. The checkpoint had no guards present at the moment, but they frequently left to go verify the reports of nearby civilians, such as when Campo’s goons had been taken away.
As I hovered through the air, I noticed something strange. It felt like my insides were twisting in knots, even though I didn’t have and, and realized that Jaime was experiencing the same symptoms. I rushed to her side to find her rolling on the floor of the wagon, clutching at her chest and crying out in pain. Hamil was leaning over her, concern filling his eyes as Astrid and Damian rushed to the wagon to find out what was happening. The feeling got worse as I felt a sinister aura nearby, slowly approaching our location.
I reached out to Jaime, even though I couldn’t actually touch her. My hand passed through her, though I could feel something inside her, something that I could actually touch. Wrapping my hands around the object, I tugged on it. The object slowly budged, leaving my daughter. Then in an instant, the object came loose as I stumbled back. What I had pulled out was a tiny, cross-shaped dagger. The dagger was a sinister, violet color with an aura coming from it that matched the one slowly approaching us.
As I inspected the dagger, it melted apart, covering my transparent hand in its sinister aura. My hand quickly absorbed the liquid as it faded completely. Soon, the pain in both Jaime’s and my chests faded. Nobody noticed what had just happened with the dagger and my hand, so it must also be invisible. Whatever the dagger was, its effect had faded, but the idea that it had found its way inside me made me worried.
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Everyone who had suddenly gathered around Jaime showed relief as she sat up, her breathing regular. It was nice to have people there to physically care for her in my absence. The pain was gone, but the approaching aura was still there, growing closer, and it seemed that Jaime felt it as well. She turned in the direction that the feeling was coming from and her face paled.
“What’s wrong? Is the pain still there?” Astrid asked, concern covering her face.
“No… S-Something’s coming. I can feel it. It’s horrible.” Jaime whimpered, her whole body trembling.
Just as Jaime finished, a terrible, inhuman, bloodcurdling shriek came from not far away. Both Damian and Astrid went completely pale as they heard it.
“This close to town? It’s coming from the west. Is there anything in that direction?” Damian asked his companion, his voice quiet.
“Not that I know of. It sounds close. It definitely knows we’re here.” Astrid replied. She was obviously terrified, but something drove her forward.
“I don’t have much mana left after yesterday. You?”
“Me neither. But it will have to do.”
Pert spoke from his cart, “You two go. I will watch over the children.”
The Freelancers exchanged worried glances. Whatever was out there was very dangerous, enough so that everyone in the caravan became visibly afraid.
“Listen, we have something important to do.” Damian spoke up, looking at Jaime and Hamil. “You need to tell Sir Duncan that they need to wait at the checkpoint and that if we aren’t there in an hour and a half, to leave and tell the Freelancer’s Guild in Renae that a Plague Beast was spotted to the south.”
The shrill cry of the Plague Beast was heard once again, this time much closer. Hearing this, Astrid and Damian leapt from the wagon and ran in the direction of the shriek.
Hamil leapt out after them, but turned and ran to the front of the caravan to share what Damian had said to Sir Duncan. The merchant’s face turned dark after hearing the boy’s words.
“Alright. But that’s all the time they’re getting. And if there’s any sign of trouble, we’re leaving immediately.”
Hamil nodded and ran back to Jaime, making sure that she was still okay. Bark had nuzzled up against her and, strangely, a flower sprouted from the wooden dog’s back. Jaime picked the flower gently. It was a simple white lily. She put the flower into her hair, almost camouflaging with its ashen color. She pat the dog on the head and rested her own against the side of the wagon as they rode on.
I could feel that Jaime was exhausted. Something about the dagger that I had pulled from her had drained her strength so much so that she could barely move. She wanted to sleep, but worry kept her awake. I had to admit that I was also plenty worried for the two of them, but worry did them no good. A part of me wanted to go and see how they fared against this Plague Beast, but I needed to stay close. I couldn’t lose Jaime.
“Sir, what is a Plague Beast? I’ve never heard of it before.” Hamil asked, turning to Pert.
Pert looked down at the ground and answered, his eyes distant. “A Plague Beast is a man turned into a monster. When a person suffers from any kind of trauma, they can become a Plague Beast, though not everyone does.”
“So not everyone can become a Plague Beast?”
“Not exactly. It spreads like a disease, but shows no symptoms. An entire village could contain the disease but not know it.”
“Is there really not a way to know?”
“Not until people start to change. Where one appears, many follow.”
“Why have I never heard of them before?”
“Because the Freelancers are good at what they do. Their main duty is to eradicate them, both from the world and from peoples’ minds. They do such a good job that attacks from Plague Beasts are extremely rare, though not rare enough.”
“What do they look like?”
Pert paused for a second, then convulsed. “More horrifying than you could ever imagine.”
This reaction wiped any other question Hamil had from his mind as he turned back to where Astrid and Damian had run to. Another shriek came through the trees, though more distant this time.
Personally, I’d never heard of Plague Beasts either. Plenty of people suffered from mental damage in the military, but they never transformed into some kind of monster. Though, any that showed any signs of desertion or treachery were swiftly dealt with.
It took the caravan another hour to reach the checkpoint, which meant that the Freelancers had a half an hour to make it back.
At this point, Jaime had regained enough of her strength to walk, so she moved around to stretch her legs. She was terribly worried about her two friends and showed it. They had all grown very close over the past week.
Not long after they arrived at the checkpoint, Sir Duncan started to try and get those that were riding with him to leave. He was desperate enough to plead with some of them, but no one budged, saying that they weren’t going to abandon the ones that had put their lives on the line. Pert looked like he was going to pummel the man when he asked him.
Just as their time was about to expire, Astrid burst through the treeline, rushing to where Jaime and Hamil were standing. The looks of relief and joy on everyone’s faces were enough to blind someone, though their feelings were short-lived when a familiar shriek exploded from behind the trees. The sinister aura that Jaime and I had felt before now reappeared, growing increasingly powerful.
“I’m out of mana, and Damian is on his last legs. We need your help.” Astrid spoke quickly.
She was covered in sweat and bruised in nearly every visible part of her body.
“You imbeciles! You brought that monster to us!” Sir Duncan cried out, panicked.
“This checkpoint is as far from any town as possible. Be quiet, or I’ll throw you to the beast myself.” She shouted at the man, almost pressing her nose against his. “I need every mage here right now!”
Loud crashes and stomps could be heard from the forest, getting closer with every moment until the Plague Beast was visible from the caravan, its sinister aura almost suffocating.
Standing opposite of the stone checkpoint was the Plague Beast, now completely out in the open. It had a small, frail-looking, pink colored body with a human face on it and four long, skinny legs that kept it several feet in the air. Each of its long legs ended in a bloody spike. Its entire body was covered in stretched skin with several parts having torn open, revealing the muscle and bone beneath. The beast opened its mouth and let out a bloodcurdling scream. I recognized the face that the beast wore. It was skunky, the man that Damian had brutally beaten in Pyle.