Thana Mourningjay

“Here we are,” I said, looking over the village with rather mixed feelings.

“So this is where you grew up?” Milo asked. “It looks quaint.”

“Mmm, I never went to town much though. We'll need to get out to the house to see anything I remember much of.” I led him around the town proper an up a hill, not bothering to look back.

“We're near your home. I know you don't want to see your parents, but it is a good chance to. You might not get another,” Milo said, clearly not understanding just how distant we were.

“Next time we're here I will, if we ever come back. Right now there's no point, they'd either get mad or try ot call the constable. I don't fancy killing the man, but if he tries to arrest us I will.”

Milo frowned. “It bothers me how easily you are willing to do that.”

“It's not easy Milo, it's not easy at all. I don't want to hurt him, it's just that I value my life over his. Perhaps the current one is a good man, or a bad man, or whatever, I don't know. What I know is that if we're taken in, we will almost certainly die. It's why I haven't objected at all to going to The Free Cities. We won't have to make that choice at all.”

“Maybe you're right, still...”

“If a bandit attacked us, would you hesitate?” I asked.

“That isn't the same,” he declared.

“It's not different to me. One would take all of our things, kill you, then probably rape and kill me. The other would take all of our things, cause us completely different kinds of pain, and then kill us too. We're beyond the point where I can make peace with Lirian government Milo, way beyond it. You need to realize that you're in the same boat too now, they'll kill you just as sure as they'd have killed me.”

“Thana...”

“Look, I'm not saying we should try to hurt anyone, we shouldn't. I just want you to understand that our lives are more valuable to me than those of someone I've never met.” With that I kept walking, I wanted to get this done with.

I recognized the road, the trees, the smells and sights of the path we were taking. It had been so long, and some things had changed. There were a few more houses in the village, a little more growth. Some of the bits of the road didn't match perfectly with my memory, but when we got to the creek that cut through the trees, and the little stone bride that crossed it.

From there it wasn't hard, follow the winding ribbon of water until you got to the big rock, which wasn't nearly as big as I remembered, then turn to your left. Up the bank and beneath an old oak was a stone, a stone that had no business this far from the creek. Moss had grown over it, turning the marker green.

I could feel the presence of the undead down there. It pinged lightly in my mind, as it always had. The sense didn't tell me much, just that I had an undead, and it was mine. I could even feel the difference between this and those I'd taken from Opcan, or even the summons. It was a different sensation, a permenant and strong one.

“Here,” I said, moving the rock out of the way, it seemed so heavy.

We didn't have to dig down far. I hadn't been all that dedicated as a child, or in the right state of mind. Less than a foot and the solid thunking noise told us that we'd reached the box. It was a little more difficult to get the whole thing out, but with Milo's help we finished quickly.

My hand trembled a bit as I reached out to the crate. It had been old and worn when I buried it, something used for moving goods and already coming apart. Now it was nearly rotten, the lit popping off with the slightest touch.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Come out,” I said, voice soft.

Scritches, the cat I'd killed and who'd been here for much of my life left his box. His flesh didn't stink, preserved by magic in part, with the pieces that would have rotted already gone. There was a small glow in his eyes, the unlife that I'd forced upon him. He looked at me blankly, with nearly nothing there other than the hunger of the dead.

Milo Greyson

“I don't wanna kill him,” Thana said, her voice close to breaking. She sounded like a child whose dog had gone rabid.

“We can't take him with us, if he's found before we reach the border... and we certainly can't leave him, he'd be a danger to the area. If we were staying, if we had some way to store him, maybe, but we're not Thana.”

“I know, I know I have to. It's just, I'm able to feel him. On the bad days, the really bad ones when I was close to giving up I felt him in my mind, even through the antimagic, even through everything. It helped Milo, it helped.” She looked so sad, nearly ready to cry.

“You're not alone,” I said with as much kindness as I could. It was clear that getting near this place, this moment had been irritating her. “I'm here,” I said, planting my hand on her shoulder.

“Thank you,” she said, then turned to the creature. “And you Scritches, stay still.”

She took the branch we'd been using to dig and with a fast, hard movement clubbed the zombie again and again until it's head was caved in, and tears poured down her cheeks. I'd thought to help, but it seemed something she wanted to do on her own.

“It's okay,” I said, pulling her close.

“Will you help me put him back?” she asked, voice tight.

“Of course,” I reassured her.

I looked down. It was clear the cat was now just dead, not even a zombie could take that kind of a beating and keep going, and besides the light in its eyes was gone now. Returning the animal to the ground was quick, only long enough to place it back in its box and toss the dirt over. The stone went back on top again, to mark the pet's grave, and we both washed in the creek.

We briefly stopped back in the village to get some supplies, and for me to get the stink-eye from everyone we met. It took a good five minutes to realize the issue was the girl beside me who looked like she'd been crying, because she had. At least nobody bothered us, since I was in a suit of armor and a strong fighter out here might well cause everyone in town problems.

As I was paying the owner of the local general store for the handful of basics we were getting a little girl came up to Thana, she couldn't be more than four.

“Are you okay?” she asked sweetly.

“Yes, I was having some problems earlier, but everything is fine now,” she said, bending lower and giving the girl a small smile.

“Okay, don't feel bad, sometimes I cry too.”

“I think we all do sometimes,” Thana said, patting her hair.

“Moira, why don't you head home, it's getting late,” the shopkeep said, clearly trying to get her away in case something went wrong.

“Okay,” the girl said, looking sad but turning and heading out, only stopping to give my companion a small wave.

“Cute kid,” Thana said, returning to join us.

“Listen sir, miss, we dont' want no trouble here,” the man began.

“Nor do we,” I cut him off. “Though you may get some soon. Highton fell, just so you know.”

“It was bad,” Thana observed. “We got out, but it was bad.”

“I'd heard rumors, so you folks are?” he questioned.

“Heading out, away from the fighting.”

“Thanks for letting me know. I was worried you see, last time a knight came through town he roughed a bunch of folks up, didn't like how people spoke to him or some nonsense,” the shopkeeper explained.

“Shameful, but not me. Unfortunately we do have to go, long way to travel.”

“Right sir, right, have a nice day then,” he smiled and nodded, seemingly still unconvinced we might not want trouble, but happy to let us go in peace.

Over the next week we worked our way north, mostly following the roads with frequent stops. The kid really hadn't been hiking in years and her feet were blistering almost daily. She could fix it easily enough, but it took a short break to do it. She also spent a bit of time working on some new spells, variants that had occurred to her, or things she'd seen in her dreams.

Things were fairly quiet and with no trouble we reached the city of Mountain View. It was a medium sized thing, mostly a minor trade hub and well out of the way of any major tactical points. Here was where goods were shipped up into The Free Cities, and their mercenaries came down to work their trade for Liria.

The set aside location for the wagon trains was bustling and loud, men yelling to unload or reload this good or that, and the various caravan masters all vying for space against one another.

Thana Mourningjay

My feet hurt, and I was tired. Milo seemed to know what he was doing as he looked over the various caravans, judging them by some metric I didn't know. Eventually he approached one.

“Heading north? Don't suppose you're going through The Free City of Orean?” he asked the man supervising the workers.

“Aye, but we're not a passenger transport,” the man replied.

“I'd never dream it, but perhaps you need some guards for the trip? Never know if there are bandits,” he smiled, leaning in.

“You maybe, but the girl? What's she gonna do, cry at them?” the supervisor chuckled at Milo, and I could feel my hair bristle.

“I am a mage,” I declared, staring him down.

“Oh? That's different then, can you show me a spell?” Now he was taking me seriously.

“Most of my magic is pretty unfriendly, but if you've got someone willing to take a hit I could do something that won't hurt them too bad,” I offered. “Most of my spells should definitly not be used in town through.”

“Alright, alright,” he turned and yelled. “HUGO, GET OUT HERE YOU LAZY BUM!” at one of the nearby carts. A man, who looked like he was still deep in a hangover came out, looking at us with bleary eyes. “Girl says she's an spellcaster, needs an example. You're up, try to resist.”

“Seriously?” The sleeply-looking man said, stumbling over. “As long as you don't hurt me, have at it girly.”

I was damn tired of these two already. It grated having to prove myself just because I was small and female, and so I decided to teach the drunkard a lesson. Normally I'd have just slapped him with one of the strength weakening rays that I liked so much, but no, he was getting one of my new spells. I let my hands snap forwards, bending and turning around a bone hanging from my bracelet. The words came unbidden and as the spell arced into the man I knew it worked.

His eyes widened instantly as he looked to me. He'd been trying to take a drink from his canteen, but he dropped it to his feet and half-screamed half-whimpered before turning to bolt. He didn't even seem to be looking all that hard where he was going, just launched himself away as fast as he could, stumbling and pushing through anyone in his way.

“Alright, I'm sold. We'll have to discuss your pay, but you'll both do nicely.” His eyes followed the path of his fleeing employee. “Um... is he going to come back?”

“Sure,” I answered. “Spell will end in a bit on its own.”