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Refenial stepped out of the coach, leaving only Nia inside. She'd seemed distant recently, withdrawn, tired. He'd tried on several occasions to help, but every time she pulled away, in the end, he decided, perhaps, she needed space and time.

He looked around. The Trade caravan had come to a stop outside the walls of the city of Stonehaven. Huge walls, towering curtains of stone, impregnable and unyielding, blocked all sight of the city, though not smell.

The road had a huge cobbled yard coming off of it where the traders had stopped, the road itself packed with men and women, on foot and cart, coming and going, through the city's gated walls, the gates so large that even this mass did nothing to touch the edges of its arch.

Refenial noticed familiar faces amongst the hubbub of the caravans. Matrill and all the other passengers of the coach sans Nia stood in a group talking.

He strolled over, enjoying the fresh spring air, a welcome change from the harshness of winter.

Nox smiled at him as he approached.

Helus also seemed to notice him, "Apparently, this is where Talot is going."

The bearded plumber smiled easily, "I was hired by one of the nobles here." He said as an explanation.

"If only every passenger was as easy as you," Matrill said with a glance towards Helus, who seemed oblivious to the insinuation.

A cloud passed overhead, bringing a sudden dimness and chill to the air.

Iln spoke, but Refenial didn't hear the man's words. Instead, his heart jumped a beat at the look on Helus's face.

The young would-be order keeper had gone pale. A palpable aura of terror hung off the man, the look of a man who had seen something that had shaken him to his core.

"What's wrong?" Refenial asked, looking around, memories of monsters looming through his mind.

"It's, it's a Traveller of the Way of the spiral," Helus said with such a fearful whisper that everyone's heads whipped around to look at him.

"Huh?" Refenial said, confused and looked around, his eyes following the finger that the man pointed a moment later.

Standing between two parked wagons and slightly removed from the bustle, a figure stood. It's only movement, a gentle sway of the brown cloak that completely obscured their body.

Their hood was up, and where their face should be was something bone white, it's only features a winding spiral and two dark holes where eyes might have been.

The figure stood still for a moment before walking towards the group at an unhurried pace.

"Who are they?" Refenial asked.

"Bad news, maybe worse than Helus." Nox said grimly.

"The Way of the Spiral is an evil cult. They are outlawed in the kingdom, even talking to one brings interest from the Order. To aid one carries the death penalty."

Matril nodded, "Most of them are at least titled, if not immortals."

The figure had crossed half the distance between them. Refenial was slightly relieved to realize the white on the face was a mask.

A woman carrying a heavy crate that obscured her vision walked near the Traveller, oblivious of their presence.

She saw the figure, stopping just shy of walking into them. She dropped the crate and let out a small squeal before quickly backing up.

"Should we run?" Iln asked.

Nox shook his head. "They're headed straight for us. If we run, all it'll achieve is annoying them."

The figure approached to within a few steps of the group and stopped standing in silence.

Refenial stared at the statue still figure. He could feel fear from the others and the crowd of people who had begun to notice the scene and slowly back away as if they had stumbled upon an apex predator and were trying to retreat without attracting its attention.

He could discern nothing of the figure. All that was visible was its cloak and white mask. Even its eyes were too hooded to make out.

It spoke loud enough for all around to hear clearly, in an unnaturally altered voice that lacked even the slightest hint of emotion or clue of identity. He couldn't even determine if it was male or female.

"Titled Refenial Crowchild, Child of Hildegard Crowchild, the Crimson Queen. I am so glad for your support of the Way of the Spiral. Your suggestion for the massacre here today is a credit to our beliefs."

Refenial felt his eyes bulging out of his sockets. Firstly at so public an announcement of who he was, secondly in confusion at the suggestion he'd supported anything, much less a massacre.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

There was absolute silence all around him as every eye turned to him.

The tension of the moment seemed to stretch on. He felt as if he stood upon a pane of cracked glass, high above an abyss, looking down into its terrible depths.

He knew something terrible was about to transpire, but if he moved, if he breathed, it would only hasten the atrocity that was about to unfold.

The sun returned from behind the cloud, and the fragile, cracked peace shattered into anarchy, madness and death.

Everything happened at once around him, a jumbled, chaotic mess of screaming and shouts and the panicked movements of a stampeding crowd. The sound of weapons being drawn and a scream of defiance from someone. The loud clatter of metal on stone as horses stomped shoed hooves on the road in fear of the surging crowds around them.

The figure moved forwards with an inexplicable grace, the speed of a champion sprinter combined with the casualness of a man walking through their own house.

The gesture of the figure drawing back its arm could be seen underneath, the first hint of the person behind the cloak.

Thunk.

Thunk.

Thunk.

Refenial looked on as the reality of the bustling crowds on a nice spring morning became a much more grim reality.

The figure had already passed him as he struggled to adapt. It swung a weapon obscured by its cloak three times.

On the first swing, Helus's head parted from his body.

On the second swing, matrill's did too.

The third swing came in wide towards Nox.

Nox moved with inhuman speed, but his movements seemed lethargic compared to those of the Traveller. Nox leaned away from the blow raising his arm in a desperate guard.

The figure's cloak billowed and obscured Refenial's sight of what was happening as he looked on, unable to save his friend.

Ka-pwww! A deafening sound echoed through the land.

There was a flash of white and gold in Refenials vision as something shot past him and barreled into the Traveller.

He realized the sound was something hitting the city's grand wall, causing it to ring out like a god had taken a sledgehammer to some titanic stone gong. The stone of the wall shattered, sending up a pall of stone and dust.

Dirt and dust was kicked up in the wake of whatever had struck the Traveller. He opened and closed his eyes several times, trying to get the grainy, bittiness of the dust out of his eyes.

He saw a figure standing in front of him, in white clothes with gold trim, impeccably clean despite the impossibility of that in the dusty air. A comforting golden glow radiated out of the figure, visible even in the bright of day. His breath was slightly laboured, but he nodded comfortingly to Refenial.

"It's going to be all right. I'm here now." Elagabalus said reassuringly with an easy smile.

Refenial coughed as he tried to respond, but before he could, Elagabalus charged away towards the city and whatever had hit the wall.

A few seconds later, he succeeded. "Nox? Nox?" He called out. Searching, terrified of what his eyes might find, but unable to look away.

An unnatural screaming-whistling sound drowned out anything further he could have said at that moment as a barrage of magical attacks flew forwards from the figure of the Traveller standing upon the rubble of the wall.

In the distance, Elagabalus dodged the attacks, unwavering in his pursuit.

The first spells hit the crowd and wagons. He took in the terrible sight of whole wagons lifted airborne, horses included, as they were hit. The sight of where they hit the crowds was worse.

The howling magic was like a hailstorm of death, beating a fast tattoo on the road and land, leaving only craters and carnage behind.

Refenial crouched down to the floor, terrified and searching, searching for Nox. His eyes looked at faces that stared with eyes as empty as the skull he'd found that first morning.

It was like the village all over again, the sound of falling spells, the smell of blood and burning death. The constant fear.

His eyes fell upon a sleeve he recognized, he saw Nox's hand, then arm, but nothing else remained.

His friend lost, he fell to the ground broken.

He felt the thing inside his soul begin to fight, scratching and clawing for its freedom.

He fought back, a little, but it was a half-hearted struggling. He was powerless, weak in a world of only evil.

He felt his soul begin to crack and crumble under the weight of the abomination. He felt it's tendrils start to form their eldritch scriptic spell.

His body began to shake and convulse as two souls fought for control.

Strong, calloused hands roughly pulled him up. He looked around, confused, briefly expecting to see Matrill or Nox. To his surprise and sadness, it was neither.

Talot, the plumber, stood there, his hat missing, his face dirty, with blood slowly pouring down one side from a small cut.

"Why?" He asked Talot.

The man ignored the question as he began moving as fast as he could while dragging Refenial on his unsteady legs behind.

Why? Talot wasn't a titled or a monster. He was a plumber. When the abandoned village had been found, he'd not volunteered to help. Why was he trying to save Refenial now?

His confusion at this unexpected help, for a moment, drowned out the sorrow and pain. He looked as the thing tried to finish its spell and focused in, sealing it back away.

"Wait!" He said with realization as he pulled away from Talot, looking back at the city of Stonehaven, deep billowing towers of smoke rising up from across the city. "Nia!"

Talot firmly grabbed him by both shoulders, looking him in the eyes. "You'll do her no good if you're dead." Talot then carried on running as he dragged Refenial along.

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He kept running for as long as he could, often glancing back at the city in the hope he would see a familiar face, but he saw no one.

It was Talot who had to stop running first. The man bent double, winded with exhaustion.

Refenial, given this moment, realized what the Traveller had said, what he'd implied. He'd told everyone who Refenial was, and he'd told them that Refenial was responsible for the attack.

He'd been framed by those words. Would others believe them? Would others think he planned that massacre? Did Talot?

He looked at the man who was only just now getting his breathing under enough control to speak. "I didn't do it. I don't know who that person was. I didn't want anyone to die." He spoke quickly, hoping Talot would understand.

Talot nodded, "thought so."

Refenial was taken aback by how easily the man believed him. He didn't want to be thought of as guilty, but it felt strange to be so easily believed.

As they began to walk on, he asked the man, "Why do you believe me? I didn't do it, but why?"

Talot shrugged, "you're a nice kid. We've spent lots of time in the coach over the past few weeks. I wasn't really asleep most of the time. I just do that so no one will talk to me. Like that Helus fella..." Talot tailed off as he saw the sad look on Refenial's face at the mention of Helus.

After a moment, Talot spoke again, "We need to get away. I doubt the Order will believe you."

"What about Nia?" he asked.

The man seemed to think for a long moment. "You can't go back to the city. You'll be arrested. Also, the Traveller might be waiting for you."

Refenial looked back at the city one last time as they crested the hill, desperately hoping to see Nia, but between him and the city was only the gentle swaying of grass on a spring day.

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