Felitïa crawled to the edge of the landing and looked out over the devastated inn. Directly beneath her, Rudiger lay amidst fragments of stairs and railings. His face and hands had numerous scratches, but he didn’t look badly off. As she watched, he pushed aside some of the debris covering his legs and pulled himself to his feet with a groan.

“You okay?” he called up to her.

“Reasonably so.”

“Zandrue?”

“She’s sleeping. She’ll be fine. You?”

“Okay. Luckily, I hadn’t taken my armour off. That was a Volg, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, that was a Volg.”

“Gods damn.”

She could barely believe it herself. Intellectually, she had always considered it a possibility that Volgs were real—or had been at some time in the past—but she had never truly believed they were. They were creatures of legend that would never emerge from the stories told about them.

Yet one had stood before her just a few short minutes ago. It had killed countless people, had tried to kill her and her friends. Would have killed them if not for the arrival of the Isyar.

She looked across to him. He was still kneeling in the street just outside the door, staring up at the sky. He hadn’t moved from there since the battle finished. His mouth was moving, but if he was saying anything, it was too quiet to hear from this distance.

“Just picked the inn-keeper up by his chin,” Rudiger said. “You should have seen it. Twisted his neck right round and practically ripped his jaw right off. Then just tossed him aside like he was nothing. I can still barely believe it.”

People were gathering in the streets behind Jorvanultumn, gaping and prodding at the bloody remains of the Volg or staring at the destruction wrought on the inn. A few approached the Isyar, but a slight shake of his head as he stood up made them keep their distance. He walked into the inn and scanned the room.

“Thanks for your help, friend,” Rudiger said, approaching with his hand outstretched.

The Isyar nodded and tentatively took Rudiger’s hand. “I look for two people. Friends.”

Rudiger shrugged. “Hopefully, they got out. If they were in here...” He paused and the Isyar moved past him, looking up at the hole in the ceiling.

“I don’t think they did,” Felitïa said. “I saw them enter their room just before the attack and the room is...gone now.”

Jorvanultumn rushed forward to the rubble beneath the hole and began to pull at the broken beams that lay there. When they wouldn’t budge, he grabbed at smaller pieces, moving them aside. Rudiger joined him, shifting the larger pieces with little apparent effort. After a minute or so, the two of them had uncovered several bodies. Jorvanultumn scurried from one to another, checking them for life and shaking his head each time.

He stopped at the fourth body, a woman. The body was in a terrible state, and Felitïa had to look away as bile began to rise in her stomach. But she had gotten enough of a look to be sure it was the woman she had seen earlier.

“Her?” Rudiger asked.

“Yes, and this one over here.”

“I’m sorry,” Rudiger said. “Good friends?”

“I did not know them well,” the Isyar said. “A few days only. They are...were the parents of... It does not matter.” He turned to look up at Felitïa. “How did you know who I look for?”

“I met Meleng and Corvinian a few minutes before the attack,” she said. “I never got introduced to the parents, but I saw them interact with Meleng and Corvinian. I too am sorry for your loss. I’m Asa, by the way. This is Rudiger. My friend Zandrue is here, too, but she’s asleep at the moment.”

“Jorvanultumn.” He looked away from her. “Meleng and Corvinian, I must return to them.”

“Wait, we should really talk,” Felitïa called after him, but Jorvanultumn was already disappearing through the side door that led towards the stables.

“Rudiger, we need to get after him. Help me.”

The huge man came over to her. “What’s the big deal? I know he saved our lives and all, but if he’s got other places to be...”

“He’s number six.”

“Number six?”

“The sixth figure in my...uh...vision.” Gods, she hated that term for it, but it fit. “Meleng and Corvinian are four and five.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Rudiger groaned. “Oh that. All right, I think I can reach you.” With his arms stretched above him, his hand reached just above the landing.

“No, hold on,” she said. “Lower Zandrue down, then get after Jorvanultumn. I can get down on my own.” She went over to the wall, squatted down and put Zandrue’s arm around her shoulder. Zandrue groaned, but didn’t fully wake as Felitïa raised her to her feet. “Okay, Zandrue, I need you to take a few steps forward for me.”

Zandrue moaned, but did as Felitïa asked.

“Almost there. Okay, we’re going to sit down on the edge and Rudiger is going to lift you down.”

“She hit her head or something?” Rudiger asked.

“No, I put her to sleep. The spell’s only just wearing off.”

Felitïa nudged Zandrue a little farther forward so her thighs were hanging over the edge. Rudiger grabbed hold of her and eased her down a little. She slipped through his hands and then into his arms.

“Careful!” Felitïa snapped.

“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing,” Rudiger said. “I’ve got her.”

Zandrue opened her eyes all the way. “I could get used to waking up like this.” She grinned. “Though I don’t remember going to sleep.”

“Felitïa used a spell on you,” Rudiger said. Felitïa’s heart skipped a beat.

“Oh, she did, did she?”

“Wait, what did you call me?” Felitïa said.

“Your name,” Rudiger answered, lowering Zandrue’s feet to the floor. “I heard Zandrue using it. A few times.”

“Oops,” Zandrue said. She put one hand to her forehead and wobbled a little. “Sorry.”

“We’ll talk about it later,” Rudiger said. “I better go catch up to that Isyar.” He hurried towards the stables.

“There was an Isyar?” Zandrue muttered. “Oh, we heard about him, didn’t we? Gods, I feel like I just woke up from a week-long drinking binge. What did you do to my head?”

“It’ll pass soon,” Felitïa said. “Help me down.” She sat down on the edge and pushed herself off. Zandrue made a feeble attempt to catch her, but missed entirely. Luckily, it wasn’t a far drop, so Felitïa landed—not gracefully, but landed—on her feet.

People were gathering at the main doors, looking into the inn. Only a couple had actually stepped inside though. “Go get help,” Felitïa told them. “Find the Watch. They should have been here by now.” A couple people nodded and ran off.

Zandrue shook her head vigorously. “Holy shit, look at this place.”

“It’s bad. The Volg killed a lot of people before Jorvanultumn arrived. We owe him our lives.”

“Volg? Oh right.” Zandrue sighed and feelings of discomfort began to ebb from her. “Look, Felitïa, um...”

“It’s all right. I understand. We better get after Rudiger.”

When they had passed through the side door and were in the hall that led to both the office and the stables, Zandrue put a hand on Felitïa’s shoulder. “Felitïa?”

Felitïa turned to look at her.

“I just want to say sorry. I... I lost it back there. I...”

“It’s all right. I lost it first. You helped me, I helped you. There’s nothing more to it.”

Zandrue nodded, but her feelings of discomfort did not dissipate. “Did I...um...say anything about...well...”

Felitïa looked her in the eyes. “Just something about they’d found you, that it was impossible. It wasn’t very clear.”

“Oh, good. Um...” Zandrue broke eye contact. “I suppose this means you have more questions about... about my past.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m not surprised. But see...”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Zandrue looked back at her. “You...you mean... really?”

She wanted to know, and it wasn’t fair that Zandrue still refused, still didn’t trust her. However, she pushed those thoughts and the anger welling with them aside. “I felt your fear, Zandrue. It’s always been there in the past, but never so...so viscerally. I won’t make you relive that fear if you’re not ready to.” But when would she be ready?

“Oh. Well good.”

They stood there for a moment in silence, then Zandrue put her arms around Felitïa and hugged her tightly. For a moment, her body shook with sobs, and Felitïa tightened her grip on her, their cheeks pressing against each other. Then Zandrue straightened up and looked her in the eye again.

“I will tell you eventually. I just need time. I know it’s been a long time already, but well...”

“It’s fine.”

Zandrue hugged her again. “You know how much you mean to me, right?”

Felitïa smiled. “Yes, I do.”

“I’m glad.”

As they stood there, so close together, a thought came to Felitïa. She turned her head just a little so that her nose was against Zandrue’s cheek, and she sniffed. Zandrue had a smell, of course, though Felitïa was hard-pressed to describe exactly what it was like beyond just body odour. Certainly not something she would remember without repeated exposure, their bodies in close proximity, pressed up against each other...

As long-buried attractions to Zandrue started to resurface, Felitïa let go and stepped back. “We’re going to lose Rudiger.”

“So, what do I smell like?” Zandrue asked.

“Sweat?”

“Kind of generalised, but it’s a start, I guess.”