The rain began pouring down. The flames on Cade’s weapons sizzled as the water made contact, but the flames did not die. Cade stared at Mallin, not knowing how to react to what he had just said. A channeler? How was this possible?
“What are you talking about, Mal?”
The old hunter walked unsteadily towards Cade. He noticed that everyone was staring at him. When Mallin had come close, he spoke quietly.
“Can you put those things out?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t even know I could do it.”
Cade tried to remember when the flames had started. They came when he first swung against the creature that was bearing down on him. He remembered the heat spreading through his body, and then the flames came. Cade suddenly realized that he still felt the heat inside of himself. He focused on trying to calm himself. He had always felt a strange heat in himself when he was angry or frustrated. Was this the same? He concentrated on easing his mind like he did when his anger flared, and he felt the heat within himself to cool. He saw the flames on his weapons begin to gutter out. Soon, the flames were gone, and the heat in his body was as well. He looked up at Mallin.
“What is going on with me?”
“I have no idea, lad. Let’s get you inside.”
Cade nodded and Mallin turned towards to the Quill Inn. Cade went to sheathe his weapons, but stopped halfway through the motion. The blades of his weapons were cold. They should have been red hot, but they were as if no flames had been present at all. He finished sheathing the weapons and followed Mallin, and saw out of the corner of his eye that Roland and Zaka were following as well. They entered into the warm, dry common room of the inn, and Charles came out of the kitchens to greet them. The innkeeper was of middling height and stout, and had the same plain genial face as his daughter. His thinning red hair was shorn close to his scalp, and his face was covered in dense red stubble. Mallin held up a hand to him, and turned back to Cade.
“Sit down. I’ll get one of the doctor’s girls to come patch you lads up.”
Cade sat in a chair, and Zaka came over next to him. The wolf leaned against him, and he scratched his ears, his thoughts awash in confusion. Roland Sat down across from him, but Cade avoided looking at him. Mallin had gone over to talk to Charles quietly by the kitchen. He departed after a few moments, and Charles went back into the kitchen.
Quiet settled over the common room, and Cade felt weariness creeping in to him. The cuts and bruises he had gotten from the creatures were starting to hurt more, and something inside of him felt weakened as well. Roland spoke softly, interrupting his thoughts.
“What the hell went on out there?”
Cade looked at Roland. The big man had concern and confusion etched on his features. A cut above his eye had crusted over with blood.
“I don’t know, Rol.”
“What was Mal talkin’ about? What’d he mean by callin’ you a channeler?”
Cade felt a tinge of anger at Roland’s questions. His first instinct was to lash out, but he controlled himself. He calmed his roiling emotions before he answered.
“I know shit about channelers, same as you. All we’ve heard is rumor and stories. I don’t know what happened to me today.
“Do you think it had somethin’ to do with those ugly things?”
“Could be. Someone around here has to know something.”
“Mal knows more than he’s tellin’.”
“We will just have to make sure he tells us everything when he comes back.”
Roland nodded, and leaned back in his chair. Cade saw that he had a few cuts on his arms and he was covered in the thick black blood of the creatures. Cade was sure that he looked just as bad. Charles and Margaret brought them bowls of stew and mugs of ale. Charles also brought Zaka another hunk of the pork that he had been given this morning. Charles put a hand on Cade’s shoulder, and gently squeezed it.
“I don’t know what happened out there, but thank you. There’s no tellin’ what those things would have done if you hadn’t been out there.”
Cade still saw the bodies of the townspeople in his mind.
“We didn’t stop all of them.”
“You still saved a lot of lives.”
Charles walked away before Cade could respond. Cade hadn’t felt hungry before the food was sitting in front of him, but now he was ravenous. Zaka had already eaten most of the pork, and Roland was eating as well. Cade tucked into his food, and combined with the ale, he began to feel steadier. Mallin returned a short time later carrying their sodden coats and a large wrapped bundle, and a young woman carrying a large leather bag followed him. They were both soaked from the rain. Mallin dragged two chairs next to the hearth, and hung their coats to dry by the fire. Cade saw that the woman was Dara, the person who was going to patch them up. Dara was the youngest of the doctor’s children, but Cade knew she had been working in the clinic since childhood. She was rail thin and her face held a sharp beauty that was accented by her pale hair and green-blue eyes. She set the bag down next to the table, and set to her work.
She had both Cade and Roland strip to their underclothes. Cade saw that his tunic and pants were ruined. Cade had two shallow cuts on his right arm, a gash on his left thigh, and another small cut on his left shoulder blade. Dara cleaned the wounds, stitched up the one on his thigh, and bandaged them. She moved on to Roland, and Cade picked up his clothes. Mallin walked over and handed him the package he had walked in with.
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“These should fit. I figure your things in the wagon are soaked as well, lad.”
“Thanks, Mal. We need to talk.”
“Later. Get cleaned up, and I promise we will talk.”
Cade felt a spike of frustration, but he held it in check. Mallin left the inn again, and Cade felt like the old hunter was avoiding him. He opened the package and found two tunics and two pairs of pants. He took the ones that were his size and put them on. Dara was done patching up Roland, and he had a bandage wrapped around his midsection and his right forearm. Cade tossed him the remaining shirt and pants from the package and Roland dressed as well. Cade picked up his boots and put them on, and then grabbed his vest. The back of it had a rip in it, but he could fix it later. Dara was packing up her things, and she saw the tear in the vest.
“I can fix that for you, Cade.”
He handed her the vest, and she dug out a roll of thick cord and a heavy needle. As she began mending the leather, Cade checked on Zaka who had moved near the hearth, and was sleeping in the warmth of the fire. He found no wounds hidden by the wolf’s fur, but he did notice that Zaka twitched when he touched him in certain spots. Cade felt a swell of pride at how the wolf had been so fearless. He sat down on the stone floor, and enjoyed the warmth of the fire. He heard Roland and Dara talking quietly about what happened, but his thoughts wandered as he stared into the flames. What had occurred out there? Why did those creatures attack? What was going on with him? He didn’t hear Mallin return, but he sensed his movements when he came near the fire. Cade didn’t look up. Mallin pulled a chair near the hearth and sat down.
“How you doin’ Cade?” he asked softly.
“Confused, Mal. I don’t know what to make of all of this.”
“Well, I don’t blame you, son. It’s a lot to take in. I ain’t never seen anyone do what you did. Lucky for all of us that you and Roland were about. That wolf of yours too.”
“People still died. We didn’t do enough.”
“Cade, you can’t blame yourself for that. If you hadn’t been out on that field and killed most of them, who knows how many would have died. You warning the guard beforehand gave us time, too. You save a lot of lives.”
“How many are dead?”
Mallin sighed before answering.
“Three of your people are dead. Twelve of ours, including four guards. Might have been the whole town if more than two of them had made it past the tower.”
Cade ground his teeth. He knew that he should have felt relief at the fact that he did save so many, but seventeen people were dead, and he somehow felt responsible.
“Do you think these things were the ones doin’ all the killings down south?”
“Might be. I don’t think it was twelve of them though, because they would have wiped out entire towns. They never attacked out in the open before now. It was always in the forests.”
“Something brought them out of the woods. Was it me?”
“No way of knowin’, unless men were behind it. I don’t know how any men could control those beasts, though.”
Cade looked up at Mallin.
“What the fuck am I? How can this be?”
Mallin’s face was cast in odd shadows from the firelight. Cade saw that the hunter was conflicted. Something about what he had seen had put him on edge.
“When I was in the legions, I saw channelers from time to time. I saw some of what they could do, and there’s no doubt in my mind that you got some of that in you. I don’t know anythin’ that’ll help you deal with this, but there is someone that you need to talk to.”
“Who?”
“Merrick.”
“What? What would he know? He was in the legions, same as you.”
“Not quite. Trust me, Cade. You need to talk to him.”
Cade felt the confusion around him swirling even more. What would Merrick know about channelers? A thought struck him, and with it, a tendril of icy coldness ran down his spine.
“Does this have to do with what happened to my parents?”
“I didn’t know them. Merrick will have answers for you. That’s all I know.”
Cade felt the hot anger coming back into him. He tried to suppress it, but it was like a burning ember in his chest. He stood up quickly, and he turned to face Roland.
“We need to go back home. Now.”
Mallin stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. Cade wanted to pull away, but he held fast.
“No. You need to wait until morning. Your people here are in a state, and they won’t be ready to go until then.”
Cade felt the heat in his chest sear outwards through his body. He struggled to control himself, not wanting to lash out in anger. Mallin, almost if feeling the heat, took his hand from Cade’s shoulder and backed up. He wanted answers, and he did not want to wait. Roland stood from his chair.
“Cade, whatever pa has to tell you can wait until tomorrow. We can’t leave out people here. We have to bring them back, and we have to bring the our dead to their families.”
Cade’s anger, which had burned so hot moments before, was gone in an instant. He felt exhausted, and could only muster a nod in response. Roland walked over and put his hands on Cade’s shoulders.
“Let’s go see if we can lend a hand out there, and maybe that will help get you thinkin’ straight for a while.”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
Zaka was still asleep by the fire, and Cade did not want to wake him. They went out into the rainy street with Mallin. They spent the rest of the day helping clean up the destruction caused by the morning’s events. The dead were taken to the gravers. The bodies of the Pinewood traders would be prepared for transport back home. The corpses of the creatures were dragged out of the town. It was nearly sundown when the foul work was done, and the rain was still failing steadily. Cade and Roland grabbed their packs from the wagons in the square. Luckily, the wagons had been covered in preparation for the trip home, so their clothes had been kept out of the rain.
They returned to the inn wet, dirty, and exhausted. The inn was a somber place, and even though people had come to eat, the atmosphere was one of sadness. Everyone stared at Cade when he walked in, and he felt their eyes upon him. Charles came out of the kitchen and led them up to the room they had the night before. Cade began digging out a coin bag and Charles waved off the coins.
“No. After what you did, it’s the least we can do.”
“Thank you, but…”
“Hush, lad. Zaka is already inside. I’ll have Margaret bring up food and drink after a bit.”
Cade smiled at the innkeeper.
“Thanks, Charles.”
“It’s nothing. Go on.”
They went inside, and Charles departed back downstairs. Zaka was lying in the corner on a blanket, and he opened his eyes as Cade walked in. The wolf stood and walked over, nuzzling against Cade’s leg. He felt a rush of comfort come from the touch, and felt himself relax. The day had been the longest, strangest, and most confusing one Cade had ever known.