Chapter 4

The withdrawals returned with a vengeance. Joell was a sweetheart about it, and Neera tried her best not to snap at him at his every kind gesture. But along with the withdrawals came a small voice inside her, telling her not to trust, not to care, to push everyone away before they could betray her. Neera hardly had the energy to fight the negative thoughts. Joell tried to cheer her up by telling her that they would be arriving at a small village soon. She could get a bed and a bath. Things that were mostly foreign to Neera, but still sounded good, especially if the look on Joell’s face was anything to go by.

When the caravan stopped all of a sudden, Neera looked at Joell for an explanation.

”We’re here. Even if it doesn’t look like it.”

Joell’s voice was low and subdued. Neera looked around and realised that they were indeed surrounded by small huts, nestled along a river. None of the huts had any candles lit, or fires burning. It was completely dark. They were little more than shadows in the landscape. No one came out to greet them. It was dead silent, only the running water of the river could be heard. Eerie didn’t come close to describing it. Neera had a feeling that finding a bed and a bath would be a hard task.

Someone from their entourage went up to the closest hut and knocked on the door. There was no response. It was like the whole village was abandoned.

“I swear, just two months ago, this was a normal place.”

Joell sounded as confused as Neera looked. Illiya quickly took control of the situation. They were still on the edge of the village, so she decided to set up tents. People worked quietly, like the eeriness of the village was infectious. Illiya gestured to Neera and Joell.

”We’re going to the inn further up the road, maybe they can explain.”

She frowned, glancing around a last time before she began walking.

The inn was situated in the central square of the village, which was more like a patch of dirt that no one had built anything on. The building was smaller than Neera had expected and she wondered if there was even space for just the three of them. Even this building stood dark and brooding, and was not the least bit welcoming. Neera suddenly envied the ones setting up the tents, who were probably also setting up some campfires.

Illiya opened the door, and walked inside. Laya followed, looking almost unsettlingly unbothered. Neera glanced at Joell who shrugged and walked inside as well. Neera hurried to follow him.

The inn was one big room, with an unlit fireplace in the middle and three tables surrounding it. The windows were covered by big blankets, and it smelled stale. At one of the tables sat five people, huddled together around a single lit candle. The three children turned their heads away and hid from us, but the man met Illiya’s eyes head on with a hostile glare. Illiya smiled at him, but this only seemed to make the man more wary of us. Laya stepped forward with her arms held up, which seemed contradictory to the daggers strapped to her legs.

“We’re just here for some food and a room.”

Laya’s gentle and friendly tone did nothing to calm the man’s distrust.

“Leave.”

“We were here just two months ago, we stayed here then.”

“I don’t care, get out.”

Laya looked at Illiya, who sighed and gestured for them to walk out the door.

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“This is suspicious as hell.”

Laya walked a couple of metres in front of the rest of them. Neera had made sure to situate herself between Joell and Illiya.

“Yes, I wonder what’s made them so afraid.”

Joell looked around with a gaze full of pity.

“We can’t help them if they won’t talk to us.”

Laya shrugged and kept walking with easy steps. Neera looked at Illiya and noticed that she was deep in thought. Her eyes were scanning the dark buildings and she was wearing a small frown. Neera nudged her with her shoulder.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m just worried. The plan was to stay here for a few days and stock up. I don’t feel comfortable leaving everyone in a place like this, but the horses need food, so we don’t have much choice.”

“Why don’t we wait till tomorrow to figure out the situation. Maybe they’ll be more friendly in the daylight.”

“Maybe.”

Illiya’s frown didn’t disappear, but she still sent Neera a grateful look.

Neera couldn’t fall asleep that night, haunted by dreams of dark eyes dripping and the feeling of flesh and blood on her hands.

Even in the sunlight the houses looked haunted. People slowly emerged from them like ghosts. Lifeless and slow, they moved around, never stopping to talk. Illiya and Joell had gone back to the inn to try and buy provisions so they could leave as soon as possible. Neera stayed behind, but that turned out to be incredibly boring. After sitting in the sun and drawing pictures in the dirt with a branch, she was ready to go crazy.

“Are you one of the people who have come to take me away?”

Neera raised her head in shock. A few metres away stood a kid with a terrified look on his face.

“No?”

“So I can talk to you?”

“Sure…”

The child took a few steps forward. He looked down at her drawing with curiosity. He pointed at it.

“It’s a tiger.”

His eyes widened, and he crouched down to look at it closer.

“Why would I take you away?”

Neera tried to sound lighthearted as she asked despite both the severity and the weight of her question.

“That’s what momma says. Evil people are taking away the children to steal their iron.”

Neera reached out to pay the kid’s head but suddenly a hand grabbed his shoulder roughly and pulled him back.

“Momma!”

The woman gave him a stern look and pulled him into her arms. She sent Neera a terrifying glare, which made Neera raise her hands in a gesture of peace. The woman sneered and pulled the child away. Neera got up and hurried towards the inn to tell the others what she had learned.

“So that’s what’s been happening.”

Joell looked even more concerned than before Neera told him what she had heard from the child.

“Must be why the king was so desperate for more Iron. It’s probably happening in other places too.”

Illiya quickly connected the dots and the rest nodded in agreement.

“It also explains the bad news we just got.”

Neera turned her head to Joell, waiting for him to explain. He sighed.

“We can’t cross through the mountain pass to the west. She didn’t really tell us why, just that we would die.”

“It’s probably where the possessed people are hiding.”

Laya looked serious for once.

“Not knowing how many there are is dangerous. We can handle two but not ten.”

It was strange knowing that there was something even Illiya couldn’t handle. But even defeating two possessed people was impressive with their force of only 15 soldiers.

“We should go scout. Figure out how dangerous it really is.”

Illiya nodded at Laya’s suggestion. Neera couldn’t help but feel nervous at the prospect of being left alone with Joell in the camp. Some of the soldiers would be left behind with them, but being separated from Illiya and Laya felt strange. Especially Illiya. At some point Neera had started to feel at ease around the woman. Safe even. Neera feared not only for her own safety, but for theirs as well. People who were possessed by evil spirits were incredibly hard to defeat. They were stronger and faster than ordinary humans. They were also cruel and felt no pain. Some of them even had special abilities if they had possessed the body for long enough. Normally you would need twenty skilled fighters to defeat a single one. They also rarely strayed from the place where they had possessed the person, so they usually caused havoc in poor and populated areas. Areas that usually didn’t have a security force.

Knowing that Laya and Illiya only had 5 soldiers with them made Neera uneasy. She also knew that this was the best plan of action so she swallowed her anxiousness and waved goodbye when they left the next morning.