"Andreana, please, please help me find Ria. please I will give you everything. please." Lady Suzan said bowing to my feet. she searched herself and took off all her jewelry and gave it to me.
I kept quiet and looked at her and Jade as they begged and cried. they had the same look as the crone and witches did in the countryside. same tears just different wishes and desperations.
I didn't need her money. nor did I need her jewelry. I didn't need anything from her. I might have done a few years ago before the king died, and his advisor took over. I needed her help then. I needed a meal. I needed medicine for my almost mortal wounds the dragon had given me during the scuffle.
but she didn't do anything.
she told me I needed to reject the king's offer, not that I had any intention to marry or whatever the heck that was. she threw herbs and coins at me, a single meal, and told me to run back into the dark forest I was born into.
now she was...
the past is the past.
"No thanks. I am not interested," I said and went to check on my horse. haven't heard it throughout the night. I walked into the stable and found it empty. except for the two horses I found when checking in, it was empty. my horse was gone. I whistled as loudly as I could for him, but he didn't appear. He was gone.
nada. gone. not there.
that was my only friend, did Ria take it?
I hurried to the innkeeper and asked him where my horse was.
"it's in the stable." it's in the stable. I felt like I could just tear his throat off. it's not in the stable you asshole. it's not in...
I went back to my room and took my stuff and went back to the stable to find a trail of where off may have gone.
I found its trail and so did I find small footsteps leading to the horse and pulling it out of the stable.
I whistled. but it didn't respond. I took the trail and followed it. whistling each and every three moments in case it heard me.
but I never came back.
I walked and walked. and walked. even when my feet hurt from walking. too bad I couldn't steal or take another horse when I still had another.
"Heeelllp!" some woman screamed from the woods I was approaching. it was already dark, and I'd been walking for two days straight. I was tired. hungry and thirsty. I felt as beaten as I was when I was done with the dragon. I haven't slept much either.
"SHUT UP, BITCH!" a man shouted at her and I heard a whimper from the woman. He hit her. yep. he did. then laughter followed from a couple of other men.
I fell off the trail and dragged myself towards the direction of the voices.
"Scream all you want. you ain't going nowhere." another voice added. as I approached, I could smell the scent of meat roasting. my stomach grumbled even worse. two days of biltong alone was tormenting.
as the scent got even concentrated, I couldn't help but rush towards the potential campsite. I walked in closer and saw the light of the fire. I got closer and saw seven guys around the fire with a huge chunk of meat roasting above it. the guys were merrily chewing on chunks of meat and there was the girl. hung with her hands to the tree and gagged right next to four horses that were munching at the grass at their feet.
I got out of the shadows and took out a few gold coins out of my pocket and headed to the group.
They saw me and got up brandishing their weapons at the same time. "Gentlemen." I greeted as I approached them.
"Well, well well. look what the cat dragged in." the guy who seemed to be the boss of this circus said approaching me too. I gave him three gold pieces and pointed at their meat. "I'd like a piece. if you will."
"Oh, rich ain't you."
"I'd like a piece," I repeated. I knew I looked dirty. probably not as bad as I was years ago but I was still dirty and exhausted. but it didn't mean I was going to have to be taunted as the guy probably was about to do. I tried to walk past him but he stopped me. "I am afraid you are going to have to pop more than that."
I looked at his hand that he had on my abdomen. then at him. a person can buy three horses and still have enough money to spend on four hot meals. but I was hungry. I needed food. I didn't need to fight. I looked at the others who were clearly up and ready for a fight. I was outnumbered, and I only had one short dagger.
I popped a silver coin and looked at him. "it's the last coin I got."
he took the silver coin and raised it. "Look what he pops. a silver, for our food!" they all laughed.
"It's three gold coins and a silver," I said starting to feel pissed.
"Oh, you got more?" he asked.
"No," I answered. he snarled and said, "let him have a piece then."
I rushed to the meat and knowing I can't instantly eat out of the fire; I grabbed the piece one of the men had and eagerly chewed on it. it tasted... funny. like horse meat. they surrounded me as I sat down.
"That would cost you five gold pieces." one guy said, and I stopped eating. I should have known this was coming. I should have never taken out a gold piece. but, considering that I was famished and dying of hunger, it was the right price for it. "Search him." he said, and I instantly rolled away, taking my dagger out in the process, and slashing the heel of the guy I had rolled close to.
He tried to stab me, and I jumped. I landed on the hide of the animal they were roasting and fell as the hide slipped, face-first into the hide. I got up and my eyes fell on the mark. The mark in utmost likeness to the one my horse had. A crescent moon with the eight cardinal points of a compass on it. I looked deeper and saw the tattoo I made years ago.
This was my horse. They were eating my horse. I paid three gold pieces to eat my own horse!
I jumped off and barely dodging the sword that grazed my ass, and I fell. I'll live through the pain. I said as I got up, throwing my dagger to the alpha guy and I caught him on the forehead. Someone stupid threw an axe at me.
They must have not known that I mastered an axe before I did daggers and swords. I dodged it and went for the axe and started chopping, cutting, and cleaving their body parts apart. Their skulls, I bust them open.
When I was done, body parts lay on the ground, mutilated, those that I didn't split their skulls open, and were alive and crying from the pain, I split their skulls open. For the measure of it. The Alpha, I didn't split his skull open. He had my dagger lodged on his throat and I wasn't going to give him a swift death. I was going to make sure he died the most painful death ever. I pulled him closer to the fire.
He was turning pale as he slowly drowned in his own blood. I scooped a few burning embers out of the fire and poured them on him using their axe. I saw him wanting to scream but feeling too weak to even scream. I pulled the rest of the meat out of the fire and moved the fire to around the alpha and left him, burning to his death.
I took my horse's leg and walked towards the tied girl. As I approached her, she looked the very same way the girls did in my head. The very same way that made me feel guilty for having killed them in the first place. I definitely have to find that witch queen.
"Let me guess," I said standing in front of her silent face that was bowed down. "Ria?"
She slowly nodded her head.
"Do you know what this is?" I asked removing her gag. She nodded again. " This is my horse. You stole my horse." She looked down in shame. "I'm sorry." She said silently, trembling. Maybe afraid I was going to kill her. But she wasn't on my hit list this time. She seemed too fragile to ever be on my hitlist. Plus, I find that queen, once my curse is lifted, I was going to quit being a witch hunter. I don't even know why I became one in the first place.
I untied her and searched for my stuff that was with the horse I just lost.
I found most of the things and loaded them onto one of the horses as she stole looks at me. I salvaged the guy's stuff and took a few of them.
I went to the roasted horse and cut off a huge chunk and handed it to her to eat. She looked hungry and dirty, just like I was. Plus, scared. She took it and nibbled at it as if waiting for me to take it back and ask for her to pay for it.
I cut off other chunks of it and packed them in cloths. I freed three horses and hit them. They ran off as I gave her a loaded horse with food and a few coins and took the other three. "I don't know what it is you are running from, or who you are running from, but I would advise you to go back to your family and stay away from the woods and…" I looked around. "…Situations that would lead to this messes." I said and left.
I rode for a few hours and made camp in sight of the river. But not close. I knew rivers had a lot of things you don't want to see. Especially those that ran towards the Mooring Forest, and this one did. As I built the campfire, I looked into the shadows and saw Ari standing next to her horse, looking at me with her head bowed.
This. This was not happening.