Chapter 10c: Running Blind

A faint tinkling, the sound of a muffled bell , drifted through the air. The noise repeated again and again, getting louder with each recurrence. Shannai frowned at her brother, who shrugged and looked into the distance, toward the odd sound.

As the sound increased, Marchas stepped forward and notched an arrow into his bow, nodding to Shannai to do the same.

With arrows notched and pointed at the ground, they stood and waited as shapes took form in the misty rain. The outline of the damned stumbled forward, becoming clearer as the group marched toward Shannai and her brother. A dozen pale bodies shuffled forward. The bell noise became obvious as an indentured servant, scarred with the shoulder branding of a slave, shuffled with the crowd. A length of chain shackled to his leg dragging behind him.

Marchas raised his bow, then lowered it. He grabbed his sister by the elbow and pulled her away from the slow-moving crowd. “There’s got to be a better way than this! I’m not shooting anybody till I have to. We run. We run till we don’t have a choice, then we’ll do what we have to.”

Shannai nodded, fear filling her with anxious energy and tears clouding her vision.

Her memories became a blur of rain, running, and terror as her brother led her through the city, always forced to move deeper into the metropolis, towards the Barclave Mountain and Castle Renier. Her brain blocked out everything around her, turning her into a sleepwaker with one thing in mind; following Marchas. She could ignore the corrupted humanity around her. She could pretend the city wasn’t a lair for the damned. She could just continue to follow her brother and everything would be all right. Marchas would take care of her. He always did.

“Don’t just sit there. Run!” The noise burst through her half conscious mind with explosive force, breaking her out of her melancholy. Her brother screamed at a woman as he notched another arrow. Tears streamed down her face as she raised her own bow and released an arrow into the crowd. She didn’t look to see whom she hit, if she even hit anyone. As soon as the shaft left her bow her gaze focused on the weapon and she notched another arrow.

Suddenly everything changed. A scream. A burst of blue light. Her brother flying through the air.

How did you do that? She asked herself as she stared at the sleeping woman.

The wizard had come in and saved the day. Just when she thought they were about to be initiated into the ranks of the dead, the wizard had shown up, clearing a path through the crowd with bursts of fire. He had picked up the witch, while Shannai helped her brother stand. Then they raced to the front gate of the castle and safety.

The door opened to the small room, breaking her thoughts. She straightened as Wellan walked through. He looked down at the sleeping woman, then at Shannai. A smile crossed his face as he waved her into the corridor. She pushed herself from the wall and followed.

“How is your brother?”

She shrugged, “A little sore, but he’ll live.”

Shannai looked down at her feet, not sure what she should say to the wizard. Finally she mumbled, “Thanks for saving us out there.”

He gave her a fatherly grin. “Think nothing of it. I felt Madame Rachelle’s burst of power and couldn’t help but follow it to its source. It looks like we were both at the right place at the right time.”

“Yeah.”

His grin melted, replaced by a more serious expression. “What are you doing in Madame Rachelle’s room?”

She didn’t look up from the floor, watching her booted toe make short arcs on the tiles. “Nothing…I just…I was wondering why she did that to Marchas. Why she slung him against that tree like that…and how.”

His comforting smile returned, “I’m here to ask the same question. To at least find out how she did it. As far as why…did you see the child, the one she fell on top of when she feinted?”

“No. I was too busy helping my brother.” Tears blurred her vision as she asked the question. A question she feared she already knew the answer to. “Who was she?”

His smile fell again, replaced by a sad frown. “I will have to ask her to know for sure, but I believe it was her daughter.”

He held up a small pendant on a gold chain. “I found this around the child’s neck. It is Madame Rachelle’s symbol.”

A tear rolled down Shannai’s cheek. She brought her eyes up to face the wizard and whispered, “I don’t think I need to speak to Madame Rachelle when she wakes up.”

She turned and strode down the corridor, not looking back as she said, “I’m gonna check on my brother now.”