With a city guard hot on his trail, he raced through the streets of Bearn. Clutched tightly to his chest is a loaf of bread that had until just recently, sat on display in front of a baker’s shop. Still warm and emitting a most mouthwatering aroma, it would likely be the only meal he will have this day. Unless of course he was caught.
Usually he took more care when purloining food, those in his situation had to keep under the radar of the authorities. For once they became known as thieves, life became all the harder.
Miko never wished to be a thief. His life being what it is, he was forced to from time to time merely to survive. The odd job that came along never paid much and as often as not, afterward was forced to relinquish his coins to the older kids or suffer a beating. Life on the street was not easy.
“ Stop!” the guard yelled. “Thief!”
A glance over his shoulder revealed the guard had closed some distance and was gaining fast. Up ahead loomed the dark mouth of an alley and he bolted toward it. Dodging around a servant girl with a basket full of fruit, he reached the alley and shot inside.
A form emerged out of the shadows before him. Unable to stop in time, he struck the emerging shadow dead center.
“ What the hell?” a voice cried as a boy several years Miko’s senior was knocked to the ground only to have Miko land atop him.
“ Miko!” another boy shouted.
Before he knew what was happening, Miko was pulled off the older boy, his hard won bounty ripped from his hands, and a poorly shod foot kicked him in the side.
Just then, the guard appeared at the mouth of the alley. “Stay right there!” he commanded. Drawing his sword, he was about to step into the alley when the group of older boys took off. As they disappeared into the shadows, one of them cried, “Thanks Miko!” to the laughter of his fellows.
“ Stop!” the guard ordered but the boys were gone. Then he turned his attention to Miko. “It’s the axe man for you boy,” the guard said.
Miko knew what ‘axe man’ the guard meant. Anyone caught in the act of stealing would lose a hand, even if it was a loaf of bread. For not yet being of age to shave, he would most likely lose his left as a lesson while leaving him his right in order that he may still be a productive member of society after having seen the error of his ways. Unable to face such a future, he bolted.
The guard’s foot lashed out and tripped him before he could take two steps. “Oh no you don’t,” said the guard as Miko’s head slammed into the alley’s wall. Landing in a pile of refuse, he squirmed away but the guard placed his foot against his back, pinioning him to the ground.
“ No use struggling,” the guard said, laughing. “You ain’t getting away.”
Noooooooooo!
Coming awake in a cold sweat, heart beating fast, Miko sits up and is about to bolt when realization of where he was sank in. It had only been a dream. The familiar sight of their horses and mule, as well as James lying still asleep nearby gave validity to that assumption.
Glancing over to the sleeping form of James, he worked to calm himself as he thought, And you think coming with you is dangerous! What he has gone through so far in his travels with James was nowhere near as bad as his previous life had been. At least with James, he is treated as an equal of sorts.
The caw of a bird draws his attention upward where several are fighting over something small. No sooner does one steal the prize from another, than that bird loses it in turn. Rubbing the sweat from his forehead the dream had produced, he freaks out when he removes his hand and finds it smeared with blood.
“James!” he shouts. “I’m bleeding!”
Startled out of a deep sleep, James raises his head and looks over to Miko. All vestiges of sleep vanish where he finds a scene that sends chills down his spine. Forehead darkened with blood and a hand to match, Miko sits not far away with wide and frantic eyes, staring at his blood smeared hand. Alarmed, James hurries over.
As he kneels down to better inspect Miko’s forehead, he says, “Now just calm down, it doesn’t look like it is still bleeding.” He puts his hand on the ground for balance and squishes something soft and a little bit nasty beneath his palm. Quickly lifting his hand, he discovers a small, bloody mass mixed in with the dirt.
“Miko, look!” he says as he picks up a stick.
As he bends over to look at it more closely, James uses the stick to first poke at it then turn it over. Miko watches, and when the object turns and is revealed to be a human eye, loses it. Bending over, he loses what little his stomach holds upon on the ground. Disgusted, James flips the eye out of camp.
A dark form swoops out of the sky, and in a deft aerial maneuver, snatches the eye before it hits the ground. James throws the stick at the bird who adroitly avoids the missile. As it flies away, two other black birds give chase.
“It hit me in the head!” Miko says when he’s finally able to stop vomiting.
“Relax,” James says as he heads over to the nearest horse. “You’ll live.” After removing the water bottle from behind the saddle, he rinses the blood off his hand then hands it to Miko. While Miko cleans himself, James gazes around the immediate vicinity. Groups of the black birds are massed upon the dead men and horses, feasting. His gorge rising, he quickly gets ready to travel so they can leave this place behind.
Miko helps him while both do their best to ignore what is going on around them. When they are finally ready to ride, Miko is the first in the saddle and races past the clumps of feasting birds with eyes closed, not stopping until they are no more than black specks on the horizon.
“Are you going to be okay?” asks James once he’s caught up with him.
“I’m better now that we left that behind us,” he replies, still a little pale.
“I know what you mean,” James agrees. “Better them than us, eh?”
“Yeah, I suppose so.” Miko still feels a bit green, but after a few minutes begins feeling better.
The rest of the day goes by without incident and they arrive at the outskirts of Willimet shortly before sunset. The first building they come to boasts a sign depicting a man sleeping on a bed. Figuring this to be an inn, they stop out front where James leaves Miko with the horses as he walks to the front door. Just before he draws near, it unexpectedly opens.
From within emerges a man reeking of some unknown unpleasantness. His hair is matted and the original color of his clothes is lost beneath an accumulation of stains and grime. The odor emanating from the man is such that James is forced to hold his breath until the man passes to avoid breathing in the nauseating stench. Once the man has moved some distance away, he takes a hesitant breath. Though the man’s stench is still present, it is no longer so overpowering.
Stepping through the doorway, he again is forced to hold his breath as the inside of the inn reeked just as bad as the man who had just left. Nasty was the word that came to mind when he glanced around the inn and toward the common room. Some tables still had yet to be cleared of the remnants of the noon meal though it has been over for many hours. Smoke from the kitchen creates an unpleasant haze that only heightens James distaste for the place.
A skinny man of average height with greasy black hair spies him standing in the foyer. Wiping his hands on an apron that possibly had never been washed, he crosses over to greet him. “Need a room tonight?” he asks, and James can almost see the green, putrefied odor coming from the man as he talks.
James turns his head slightly to try to get away from the sickening smell. “No,” he quickly replies all the while trying not to breathe. “Just seeing if my friend was here,” he lies. “Thanks though.” He then turns and makes a hasty exit through the front door, taking a deep breath once outside. He informs Miko that they will not be staying there tonight.
“What was wrong with it?” Miko asks.
Getting back on his horse he replies, “It was filthy and nasty. The one person I saw stank and I fear may have been the cook.” The thought of eating anything produced in a place of such disregard for cleanliness made his gorge rise.
“I’m sure there are others here, it’s a fair sized town,” comments Miko.
“I certainly hope so,” says James. “I’ll sleep under the stars again before I stay in a place like that.”
They find another inn further into town, this one looks to have a fresh coat of paint and the grounds are well maintained and orderly. “I think this may do nicely,” he says with satisfaction. It was a stark contrast to the earlier place.
“I hope so,” adds Miko, “it’s starting to get dark.”
Coming to a stop before the steps leading to the front door, James dismounts and says to Miko, “Stay here and I’ll see if they have a room available.”
“Alright,” Miko replies.
After handing Miko his reins, he goes up the stairs and enters the inn. This one, though it has a smoky haze similar to the other inn, but at least it smells of wood smoke and cooking. Overall, the place looks to be better maintained. A man comes over and greets him, “Welcome to the Apple Tree Inn, how may we help you tonight?”
Friendly greeting, neat and clean common area, Yes, he thinks to himself, I think this will do.
“My friend and I require a room for the night,” he says, “and stalls for our animals.”
“How many do you have?” he asks.
“Two horses, and a mule,” James answers.
Nodding, the man says, “Yes, we do have room for you. It will be a silver a night for the room and another four coppers for the stalls.”
When he agrees, the man walks to the counter where James hands over the money and receives a room key in exchange. “It’s off the common room.” He points toward a side hallway, “All the way down and on the left. It’s the quietest room we have.”
“Thank you,” James says, “I appreciate that.” Returning outside, he informs Miko they will be staying there. They then take their horses and mule around back, getting them settled into the stable. Taking their bags with them, they return to the inn and find the room at the end of the hallway. Two beds again, which makes Miko happy. They put their bags next to their respective beds before heading back to the common room for dinner.
They enjoy a quiet dinner of roast fowl, bread and ale. After downing the last of his ale, James says, “I think I’ll go for a walk” Glancing toward Miko he asks, “Like to come with me?”
“Sure, okay,” Miko agrees. “Maybe we could find some more tarts?”
“You never know,” replies James, smiling at his friend.
They leave the inn and stroll through the streets. During their walk they get propositioned by several women, all of which look rather skanky to James.
After turning down the fifth offer of cheap sex, Miko says, “There’s something I’ve noticed about you.”
“What’s that?” asks James.
“You are never with a woman. Don’t you like them?” Miko inquires. “Or is it because you were mutilated?”
“I like women, most definitely,” he replies, then comes to a stop when the last little bit Miko said finally registers. Turning a quizzical look to Miko he asks, “What do you mean ‘because I was mutilated’?”
Looking a little embarrassed, Miko says, “Well, when we took our baths the other night, I couldn’t help but notice that a part of you had been cut off.”
“What are you talking about?” James asks confused. Then it hit him, he was circumcised. He starts laughing and says, “What you are referring to was done when I was born. It’s a custom with my people that when a boy is born, such is done to him.”
Looking aghast, Miko asks “What for?”
“It’s the common belief that if it’s removed then there will be less chance for infection during his life,” answers James. “In fact there is one religion back home that mandates it.”
“I’m glad I wasn’t born there,” Miko states with conviction, unconsciously covering himself.
“There are times when I wish it hadn’t been done to me too, but there’s not a whole lot I can do about it now. But rest assured, it still works as well as anybody else’s and it doesn’t affect my desire for sex.”
“Then why don’t you go after the women?” he asks.
“I was raised to believe sex is not a casual thing,” he explains. “And it’s definitely something you should never pay anyone to do. Also, there are certain diseases that you can get from such activities that really mess you up bad, even kill you.”
“The boys I used to hang around with, whenever they got hair between their legs, started going after the girls,” says Miko.
“Yeah, I knew guys back home that were like that too,” admits James. “But you should always do what you think is right, no matter what others may think or do.”
James resumes walking and Miko is silent for a while, thinking about what he just said. They eventually arrive at the main marketplace which is still surprisingly busy even though night has already fallen. Several performers scattered around, one is a juggler who has several different objects coursing through the air simultaneously. Next to him sits a chair with a knife sitting half on and half off the seat. At one point the juggler adds the knife to the dance of items in the air with an upward kick of his foot. As it flies up from where it had sat upon the chair, the onlookers ooh and ahhh. When he catches it and incorporates it within the pattern of the other items, they erupt in applause, several tossing coins into a hat resting on the ground before him.
They remain to watch as the juggler continues keeping the items airborne while twice people tossed other objects which he also incorporated into his aerial display. Miko is completely fascinated by the man so they stay there for a little while watching him. By the time they move on, the juggler had seven items in the air and didn’t look like he was going to stop anytime soon. James gave Miko three coppers to drop in the hat.
As they make their way through the marketplace, they momentarily stop to observe other performers, though none are as talented as the juggler. While they pause to watch a fire breather, James notices a small tent almost hidden in a dark corner of the market. Inside is a woman sitting at a table. Before her atop the table rests what looks to be a crystal ball. She looks just like a fortune teller right out of an old movie, he thinks to himself. Curiosity gets the better of him.
“Miko, I’ll be over there,” James says as he points toward the small tent.
“Alright,” Miko acknowledges. “I’m going over to watch the monkey.” He points over to where a man has a monkey doing tricks and wearing a funny little outfit.
“Don’t get lost,” James says before he makes his way through the crowd over to the tent and enters.
“Close the curtain so we may have some privacy,” the woman says to James as she indicates the chair sitting across from her. “Come, sit down and I’ll look into your future.”
He unhooks the curtain and lets it fall, then walks over to the chair and sits.
“Place your hands upon the table, next to the ball with your palms up.” When James has done so, she rests her hands upon his and says, “Now look into the ball and make your mind blank, let it drift as it will.”
He stares into the crystal ball, but all he sees is the crystal ball.
“You must relax,” she tells him, giving him a reassuring smile. He does his best and slowly his mind clears, his body relaxes.
She stares into the ball as she says, “I see a great future for you, one of power and fame.”
“Really?” he asks as he tries peering closer into the ball but fails to see anything.
She looks up from the ball and says, “The ball does not lie. Now, gaze deeper within its depths.”
He stares into the ball as she says, “I see love and happiness for you.” When he looks up to her she meets his eyes and says, “And not too far away.”
“She looks to be a daughter of a rug maker,” she says and then glances up to see his reaction. Then says, “Or possibly a horse trader.”
“Where can I find her?” he asks.
“Back home,” she says. “Where you were born.”
Fake! he thinks to himself. There aren’t any such back where I come from. “Thank you,” he says, then begins removing his hands from the table.
Suddenly, her hands spasm and clenches his tightly, preventing him from leaving the table. Then she says, “I can see that you have come a great distance and not by choice.”
Inside the ball, a deep red color blossoms from within its center. He sits back down, intrigued by the show if not by the accuracy.
“You have many questions,” she says, her voice becoming more distant, “and few answers. You are on a quest, a quest for answers.”
A chill runs down his back, she’s hitting closer to the mark now. The deep red color continues to grow and starts to slowly swirl throughout the ball.
“I see a long road but you are not alone, another walks with you,” she says, her voice changing, growing harsh and raspy. “He will be the key, a lock must be opened.”
Nervous, he hesitates. On the verge of leaving yet drawn to see what will happen.
The red swirling begins to churn faster and a subtle pulse can be seen coming from within. Gasping, her body jerks, hands tightening around his in a grip of surprising strength. He tries to free his hands but is unable to break away. Her grip grows uncomfortable.
Looking at her he sees that her features have changed subtly, yet unmistakable. With a voice growing less human she says:
With the star, seal your fate,
A giant knocks upon the gate.
Her voice rises in volume and pitch, the throbbing red vortex in the ball swirls like a maelstrom. The pulsing continues to grow and becomes much more pronounced with each word she utters.
Pillars of Flame dispel the night,
Out of darkness, blossoms a light.
Her grip on his hands becomes painful. Eyes wide with the pupils rolled back into her head, her visage completely unnerves James. Scared, he wants nothing more than to break free. Struggle though he may, her grip on his hands is simply too strong.
A friend’s wrath you shall feel,
Destroy the land so it may heal.
The crystal of the ball is now completely infused with red and the swirl is no longer apparent. Now a solid red, it pulses, keeping in time with the words being spoken by the woman.
Return the lost, stones to dust,
The table begins to vibrate, the pulsing becomes more pronounced, actually bathing the entire tent in an eerie pulsating red glow. In a voice that sounds as if it’s being stretched to its limit, she cries:
Remember… in all… your heart… to trust!
She screams as the crystal ball explodes, sending shards in all directions. Several score along his arms and face. At the shattering of the ball, she falls backward and releases the iron grip she had on his hands. Her chair tips over backward and the woman hits the floor where she lies unmoving.
James comes around the table to her and sees that she’s still alive, but unconscious. Amazed, he discovers a streak of white going through her black hair that hadn’t been there before. Droplets of blood begin to well out of the many spots on her arms and face where she was struck by the shattering of the ball. He lifts her from the floor and carries her over to a pile of pillows lying in the corner of the tent and tries to makes her comfortable. When he has her settled, he looks around the tent at the mess the shattering of the ball has caused. Shards of crystal are everywhere.
He begins to remove the shards from her skin when her eyes fly open. “Who are you?” she asks him.
“You were telling me my future,” James replies soothingly so as not to alarm her. “You must have gone into a trance or something. Then suddenly the ball exploded and you fell over unconscious.”
“That has never happened to me before,” she says, frightened. She looks around her tent at the scattered pieces of shards and breaks down into tears. “What am I to do?” she wails. “I have no ball! How am I going to get people to come in here? How am I to live?”
“I am sure you could still make it work,” James assures her. “There are many different ways in which to tell people’s futures.”
She doesn’t look convinced. “But seeing in the ball is what I am known for. They won’t believe in me if I try another way.”
“Can you get another one?” he asks.
“They are hard to come by and expensive. This one cost me over fifteen golds,” she says, breaking down as sobbing comes over her again.
Reaching into his pouch he pulls out fifteen golds and gives them to her. “Here, take this and get started again.”
Taking his coins, she again starts to cry only this time in gratitude. “Oh thank you, how can I ever repay you?”
“Just help others, that is all I ask,” he replies.
He comes to his feet and looks around at the shambles that is her tent. “When the tale gets around that while you were reading someone’s future, the ball shattered and that white streak manifested itself in your hair, you may have more business than ever before.”
She reaches up and touches her hair. “A white streak?” she asks incredulously.
Coming over, he touches her hair above her forehead and says, “Yes. It starts here and goes all the way back. Kind of makes you look mysterious.”
She pulls some of her hair down before her eyes and looks at the white strands. “Mysterious?” she says and starts to calm a bit.
“Will you be alright now?” he asks.
“Yes,” she says. “I think I may.”
“Then I must go,” he says. “Thank you for the telling.”
“You are welcome sir,” she replies. “Was it helpful? I don’t remember.”
“It didn’t make a lot of sense,” he says, “but who knows with such things?” He then turns and walks out of the tent, pushing aside the curtain that had blocked the entrance. Outside he finds Miko still watching the performing monkey who is now riding a wagon being pulled by a small dog to the laughter of the bystanders.
When he reaches Miko’s side, Miko turns and sees his face in the torchlight. “What happened to you?” he exclaims.
“Oh, I just had my fortune told and there was a little accident,” he explains. “I’m okay, nothing to worry about.”
Turning back to watch the monkey, Miko says, “This little guy is amazing, he can do all kinds of tricks.”
“I’m sure he can, but maybe it’s about time we head back to the inn,” James tells him.
“Alright,” he agrees. “What about those tarts?”
“I almost forgot.” Glancing around the market, James tries to find a bakery but can’t make one out. “Let’s walk around and if we don’t find one, we’ll just head back to the inn, agreed?”
“Agreed.” Miko leads the way and though they fail to find a bakery, they do come across a man selling what reminds James of a cinnamon roll but instead of cinnamon it has a red jelly spread across the top and in the middle. They buy six and head back to the inn. Eating as they go, they both agree that they are delicious and end up eating them all before returning to the inn.
That night as he lies in bed, James has trouble falling asleep, the words of the woman still echo in his mind. ‘Another walks with you, he will be the key, a lock must be opened’. That’s got to be a reference to Miko. But what lock will he open? He’s not a thief.
The rest of it doesn’t make much more sense:
With the star, seal your fate,
A giant knocks upon the gate.
Pillars of Flame dispel the night,
Out of darkness blossoms a light.
A friend’s wrath you shall feel,
Destroy the land so it may heal.
Return the lost, stones to dust,
Remember in all your heart to trust.
I’m sure it will make sense after it would have been useful to know, he reasons. After a while of wrestling with it, he finally succumbs to sleep.
Early the next morning, they gather their things and head down to the common room. There they discover the lower floor of the inn to be aswarm with people. The buzz of conversation flowed throughout the room like a hive of excited bees.
“…I didn’t believe it myself at first…”
“…lucky to be alive if you ask me…”
“…simply incredible, you should see her…”
Spying one of the serving girls, James catches her attention and asks, “What’s going on?”
Giving him a surprised look, she says, “Haven’t you heard? Serenna’s ball exploded during a foretelling last night.”
“Oh really?” he asks. “Is she alright?”
“She’s fine,” replies the serving girl, “though her face and arms were struck when the ball exploded. No one knows what happened to the person for whom she was doing the foretelling.” Suddenly, she notices his face and the numerous fresh puncture marks it bears. She looks at his arms and sees matching wounds there as well. “You?”
“I’m afraid so, but let’s not make too much out of it okay?” he asks. “I would just like some breakfast.”
“Sure thing,” she says as she backs away and heads toward the kitchen. On the way she pauses to whisper to another serving girl who glances over at him with a wide eyed expression. The other serving girl then turns to another person and soon, the conversations within the inn quiet as word of his appearance spreads. Eyes looking fearful take in the wounds caused by the shattering of the ball which dot his face and arms. James was beginning to feel a little self conscious beneath such scrutiny.
“Wonder why such a reaction?” Miko asks.
“Don’t know,” he replies. “Let’s just eat and then get out of here fast.”
Beginning to feel uncomfortable too, Miko says “Yeah, it’s getting kind of creepy.” Taking a seat at a small table in the corner of the common room, they wait for the serving girl to appear.
When their meal arrives, the girl sets it on the table then backs away fast. Wishing for nothing else but to rid themselves of the watchful crowd, they eat their meal quickly. Most of those within the inn, seeing that James is not behaving in any way out of the norm, return to the conversations they were having before.
James can’t help but notice the way everyone continues to cast glances their way. After a bit, he also notices that the crowd within the inn seems to be getting larger. Over in the corner are several youngsters talking amongst themselves. One girl from the group, who couldn’t be more than twelve, is given an encouraging shove from another as she timidly makes her way over to his table. She stops several feet away and asks nervously, “Can I ask you a question?”
James says, “Sure, what would you like to know?”
With eyes wide and a slight tremble in her voice she asks, “Is it true that a demon came and Serenna had to fight it off or it would have eaten your soul?”
“What?” he cries incredulously.
“You didn’t tell me that part,” Miko says.
“That’s because it never happened.” Turning to the girl he asks, “Just where did you hear that story?”
“Everyone is talking about it,” she says. “They say you made a pact with the demon and that it was coming to collect!”
“That’s absurd!” he replies. Then he notices how every eye in the inn is directed his way. From their expressions, it is clear they had heard the same thing.
Standing up, James turns toward the crowd and raises his voice saying, “Despite the rumors you may have heard, there was no demon and I have never made a pact with one.”
“But I heard the story from Serenna herself,” one lady says from the crowd. “She’s been telling it all morning.”
“Oh, we’ll just see about that!” Grabbing his things he says, “Miko, we’re leaving.” Heading out to the stable to collect their horses and mule, curious onlookers follow and watch as they make ready to ride. It’s with great relief when he is able to mount and leave the courtyard. A few people attempt to follow but he kicks the side of his horse and quickly leaves them behind.
Drawing near the marketplace, they find it jambed pact with people. Moving forward slowly, they force their way through, eliciting much disgruntled mumblings from those displaced. The marketplace isn’t much better as a mass of people fill the entire market area, all facing toward Serenna’s tent. Carefully maneuvering through the mass of people, James leads the way forward. Standing on a wagon in front of her tent, she speaks to the crowd, the white streak in her hair a stark contrast in amongst the black.
“…its scaly foot had him pinned to the floor, a seven foot sword dripping with fire was raised and ready to cleave him from head to toe. ‘ Your soul is mine’ the fiend cried.” The crowd collectively caught their breath, several women actually fainted dead away. “Not knowing what else to do, I cried ‘Fiend be gone’ and threw my crystal ball.” Pausing for effect she dramatically reenacts the throwing of the ball. “When the ball struck, it cried in pain. Why, I don’t know. The crystal shattered, spraying shards in all directions.” Using her hands to direct their gaze to her face, she continues. “Many of the shards struck me, causing great pain.” Members of her audience let out with an ‘ahhh’.
“The shattering of the crystal in some way caused the demon to return to its realm,” a cheer rises from the crowd. “The poor man, who had come to me for help, lay there, whimpering with fear.” Her voice softens, “‘Mama, is that you?’ the poor man cried as I came close. Not knowing what else to say I replied, ‘Yes, it is dear’.”
Looking around, James can see the people around the marketplace are in rapt attention to every word Serenna is telling them. Some of the women are openly sobbing with tears streaking their face. Even a few of the men are visibly moved.
“I held him there, blood still welling from my wounds, pain throbbing in my face and arms, yet still I held him. He slowly came to his senses and at first did not know where he was, ‘Where am I?’ he asked. ‘You’re safe, that is all that’s important now,’ I assured him. He suddenly jumped up, fear again in his eyes and ran out of my tent. I called for him to return, so that I might help him, but he did not heed me.”
The audience begins to applaud and James would have been moved by the story too, if he didn’t know it was just a bunch of lies. Feeling slightly offended, he continues toward her.
Attention drawn to the presence of a rider approaching, she recognizes him. “There he is!” she cries pointing toward him. The crowd as one turns their attention upon him, the marks on his face and hands visible. They are a match to the ones she herself bears.
“It is him,” utters many whispered voices throughout the crowd.
“I am glad you are now safe,” Serenna says, loud enough for the crowd to hear.
“That’s quite a story,” James says, raising his voice loud enough to carry across the marketplace. “But not quite true, is it?” Turning to the crowd he continues, “There was no demon…”
A scream rips through the marketplace. With a crazed look in her eyes, Serenna screams again then cries out to the crowd, “The demon has taken this man’s soul for his own. Do not hearken to him.” She points an accusing finger at James.
His line of thought broken by the unexpected shriek, he begins formulating his next rejoinder.
“Uh, James,” says Miko staring at the crowd.
“Not now Miko,” James says, still trying to come up with a counter to what Serenna had just said.
“James,” he says again with a slight tenseness and sense of urgency to his voice.
James looks back toward Miko and then the crowd. The crowd is staring at him in a less than friendly manner.
“Be gone demon!” Serenna cries out. “Bother not our city!”
“Maybe we should go,” Miko suggests nervously.
The crowd grows ever more edgy. Fearing it could easily transform into a mob, he nods and they turn to proceed back the way they had come. The crowd parts for them as they leave. Every eye is on him as they make their way from the marketplace. As they leave the area, they hear Serenna once again speaking to the crowd though they are no longer able to make out the words. The crowd within the marketplace cheers loudly to something that she says.
Shaking his head, James leads them out of the city and once again they head east toward the Merchant’s Pass.