4: Those That Hunt. Those That Hide. (Patreon)

The villagers  of Brij always enjoyed a spectacle, and for good reason. Drama was  usually limited to gossip about this year’s crop yield, or at the very  worst, someone’s husband looking the wrong way at someone else’s wife.  But that was a rare event.

Something like  the arrival of mounted soldiers? Now that was gossip material for years  to come. Vir was sure many Brijers were looking forward to whatever was  about to happen, despite their anxious expressions. Maiya was one of  them.

“Ugh! Can’t hear a thing,” Maiya said. “We need to get closer. C’mon Vir!”

Vir let Maiya  lead him through the crowd that had gathered at the village’s main  plaza. She always took charge whenever she was worried. He didn’t mind.  In fact, he was glad to have such a reliable friend. Whenever she was  around, he always got fewer looks from the villagers. And no one could  push their way through a crowd like Maiya could.

As they got closer to the soldiers, Vir began hearing bits and pieces of the conversation.

“I assure you, ser, we’ve nothing to hide!” A familiar-sounding voice said.

“That’s dad he’s speaking to!” Maiya whispered.

“Then you’ve  nothing to fear, head priest,” the soldier said from atop his armored  Ash’va. Shining plate armor adorned the beast—the kind Vir had only  heard of and never seen.

The soldier  himself was no less adorned, clad head to toe in pristine steel with a  cape dyed in the Hiranyan emerald-and-gold. His glistening breastplate  looked like it spent more time getting polished than actually being  used. On his back was a recurve shortbow—decorated in gold, of  course—but what caught Vir’s eye was the glimmering talwar at the  soldier’s hip.

His curved  sword boasted too much gold for Vir’s liking, but the blade itself was  mesmerizing, with a gorgeous two-tone pattern embedded in the steel. Vir  stared at the blade for a long moment before he realized what it was.  His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

Impossible! He thought, his heartbeat quickening. Seric steel!?

It was the metal present in all the godly myths. The steel that was said to cut through regular steel like paper. He didn’t know if those rumors were true, but he had heard that those blades could cost as much as a house…

Vir appraised  the other soldiers, but to his disappointment, none of them had any  seric weapons. On the spot, he decided he would own one someday. He  didn’t know what he’d do with it, and who knew how he’d afford it, but  none of that mattered; he wanted one anyway.

“This is a routine inspection, nothing more,” the soldier said through his full plate helm, his voice muffled and boomy.

Apramor frowned. “This is the first time we’ve had soldiers inspect our village—”

“Knights, priest. Knights, not soldiers. And I am the knighted captain of this detachment, Tejas Vastav. You would do well to remember that name.”

So they’re not just soldiers… they’re knights? Vir thought, panicking. That explained their opulent gear.

“My apologies,  Knight Captain Vastav,” Apramor said with a bowed head. “Surely  honorable knights such as yourselves wouldn’t waste your time with such a  small village like ours?”

“Tisn’t your place to question how we spend our time, priest,” the  knight said. “Our orders come straight from the newly appointed royal  priest. He is somewhat particular about these matters, you see. Your  superior wishes to show our citizens that we are here, ready to serve  and to protect. The winds are changing, Apramor. We need to maintain  vigilance during these dark times.”

The Knight Captain’s vague explanation did nothing to lessen the knot tightening in Vir’s stomach.

The Captain  turned and addressed the crowd. “Hear me, villagers of Brij. We, the  third detachment of the Royal Imperial Knight Corps, have ridden hard  from Daha. As citizens of our glorious kingdom, I expect your full  cooperation during our inspections! Know that there is nothing to fear!  We are protectors of the people. Our duty is to ensure your safety.  However, our mission here may take some days. We require lodging. I  hope we may impose upon you?” He said, giving Apramor a sidelong glance.

“None at all, Knight Captain! The villagers of Brij would be happy to host you,” Apramor replied.

“We are most  appreciative,” Captain Suvir said, with a small bow of his head. Vir  wasn’t expecting to see such politeness from someone like him. “My  knights will introduce themselves to each of you in turn. Until then,  please disperse. All of you!”

“Let’s go,”  Vir said, dragging Maiya away from the knights with his left hand before  anyone could see him. It’d be bad if the knights got a glimpse of him.  His right hand clutched his hood, desperately trying to hide as much of  his face as possible.

Fate wasn’t so kind.

The two walked  along the dirt road for less than a minute before a multitude of barks,  yips, and howls pierced the air. Four bandies rounded a corner, whipped  by their owners into a frenzy.

With all the villagers cloistered at the central square, there was no one to stop the bullies.

“Guess I shouldn’t have pissed them off,” Maiya said, shirking back.

“That’s right, Maiya! Be scared,” Akros’ son, Camas, taunted. “You really thought we were just gonna let… let that… what are you doing!?”

Vir bolted the  instant he saw the bandies, making them chase after him instead of  Maiya. He jumped upon a crate, leaped through the air, and grabbed a  pole. But he'd learned from his mistake in the alley that morning. This  time, he forced enough power into his legs, leveraging his momentum to  throw himself onto the flat roof of a single-story house.

Yes! Not only had he found safety, he'd figured out a way to overcome his earlier failure, and that felt good.

The bandies  all rushed to the base of the wall he stood atop of, snarling at him.  But thanks to Vir’s advantageous position, the beasts were all bark and  no bite. Vir calmly lobbed one pebble after another at their vulnerable  muzzles, though hitting moving targets was a more difficult proposition  than hitting stones as he'd always done. He timed his shots, predicting  where the bandies might end up, but he missed more often than he  connected. Luckily, he had plenty of pebbles. He kept attacking, honing  his aim with every throw, growing slightly better as the encounter  dragged on.

They finally routed, tails between their legs.

Camas hurled insults the entire time, blaming him for the famine, calling him Harvest Scorned, Red Eyes,  and all sorts of other things, but little did he know that he'd just  contributed to Vir growing his throwing skills. He almost couldn't keep  the smile off of his face; that was some good practice.

“Come up with something original next time,” Vir taunted. “I've grown bored of your old ones. Haven't you?”

Losing no  time, he jumped down and rejoined Maiya. Though Camas didn't pursue,  they ran the rest of the way regardless. Bandies scared easily, but  would eventually return.

Several times,  Vir felt like he was about to black out from the exertion, but he  pushed through, arriving heaving and panting at his home on the  outskirts.

Maiya locked the door behind them as soon as they were inside, and Vir fell onto all fours, panting.

“Maiya,” he said between breaths, “I think they’re here for me.”

“Huh? You may  be a bit special, Vir, but I don’t think the king would send out his  knights just to find a boy in some backwater village.”

“You heard him  talk about how there’s a new religious advisor, didn’t you? And you  know what the religious texts say about Ashborn. And there’s never been  an inspection like this before! Your dad even said so.”

“That’s true, but—”

“I don’t know why everyone’s so scared of Ashborn, but I am different. They make that abundantly clear,” Vir said, touching the eight-spoked geometric tattoo on his chest.

Maiya fell  silent. “I… it’s not like I don’t understand, Vir, but I still think  you’re overreacting. Let’s just lie low for now. Why don’t you stay  inside your house until all of this blows over? I can bring you whatever  you need, alrig—!?”

A series of loud, hard knocks startled them.

“Open up in there! This is a knightly inspection. Nothing to fear. Open the door!”

“Vir, hide! I’ll answer the door,” Maiya whispered.

“No!” He whispered back. “Won’t it be suspicious if they find the daughter of the head priest alone in my house?”

“Oh… right. T-Then what should we do?”

“Just pretend we’re not here!”

“Oi! Anybody home? I said open up. I must warn you that the penalty for impeding a knightly investigation is dire!”

The rapping stopped. Then came the sound of footsteps.

“Who are you? Name yourself!” the knight commanded.

“Just a nobody, ser knight.”

Vir cracked the curtain to find old man Akros outside.

“Just wanted to say that this be Rudvik’s place. He’s off in the woods with his son today, ser.”

Why him? Vir thought frantically. Why did it have to be Akros?

A pause.

“Is that so?”  the knight said in a quieter, more respectful tone. “Thank you, citizen.  By the way, you wouldn’t have heard about an Ashborn living in this  village, would you?”

Vir went pale.

“I, er. I wouldn’t know anything about that, ser.”

“Are you sure?”

“Q-quite. If I can help your highness in any way, please do let me know.”

Vir’s ears had to have failed him. Did Akros just stick up for me!? Why would he do that?

The soldier grumbled. “Not your highness. Just a ser. And no. We need nothing further from you. Run along now.”

Vir exchanged a tense glance with Maiya. Then there were more footsteps outside.

“Well, what do you think?” One soldier asked. Their voices hushed, making it hard to hear.

Vir desperately tried to still his raging heart. He could’ve sworn it was so loud that the knights could hear every beat.

“Yet another Brijer denying the Ashborn’s presence,” one knight said.

“Well, our spy  already confirmed the Ashborn’s presence here, didn’t he? What use is  it asking the locals? Red eyed, pale skinned. Lumberjack’s son. Couldn’t  possibly be anyone else.”

“Well, true, but tisn’t bad to lend an ear to the locals now and then. They tend to know the ins and outs.”

“Maybe. But isn’t all this very unusual? Who would protect an Ashborn?”

Vir concurred.  This was out of character for Akros. Or maybe the irate man wasn’t as  bad as Vir had thought? He found that somewhat hard to believe…

The other knight chuckled. “Well, you and I wouldn’t understand it, but these villagers have a level of cohesion that is sometimes difficult to understand. I’ve heard they’ll even harbor criminals if they’re one of their own.”

The sound of someone spitting. “Backwater bumpkins… Can’t fathom how we got assigned to this miserable post.”

The soldiers finally walked away, their voices dying out.

“Well, it’ll all be over soon… One villager to talk… justification… locals on our side… delicate situations.”

“... doesn’t take long.”

“Shouldn’t… just villagers… all.”

Vir finally let out the breath he’d been holding. He realized he’d been shivering. When did it get so cold?

“I don’t  believe this,” Maiya said in a low voice. “You were right!? How? I mean,  why? Why’d they come after you? You’re harmless. Ashborn are harmless!”

Vir laughed tersely. “They clearly don’t think so.”

“What should we do?”

Vir paced around the house as he thought, the ancient floorboards creaking underfoot.

The answer was obvious. “I’ll leave the village. I can’t risk father and everyone else getting caught up in this.”

“That’s noble  of you and all, but won’t that raise even more suspicion? If you just up  and disappeared, everyone will blame Rudvik, won’t they?”

She had a point.

“I can’t believe Akros didn’t snitch on you, but I feel like it’s only a matter of time before someone does.”

“I dunno what  he was thinking. He’s the most religious person in town, and everyone  knows he hates my guts,” Vir said. “And then there’s Apramor.”

“Dad would  never betray you, Vir! Never ever!” Maiya shouted, before putting her  hands over her mouth. The two went silent, but luckily, no one seemed to  be nearby.

“I like your dad too, Maiya, but if the knights threaten you or your mum, what do you think he’d do?”

“He’d, I—Argh!” Maiya said, grabbing her long, flaming hair. “What should we do? Think. Think! Maiya! Think!”

“Well, calm down,” Vir said, surprising himself. He felt like he was the one who needed to calm down, but seeing Maiya panic somehow made him less nervous.

He took a deep breath. “Let's… Let’s just wait for my father to get back from the woods, okay?”

“Mmm yeah. Good idea. Yeah. I’m… uh. I’ll go find dad. He’ll know what to do.”

“Right. Let’s leave this to the adults. Let’s not do anything rash, okay?”

Maiya nodded  vigorously, as if she was trying to convince herself. “Right,” she said,  peeking outside. “Okay. Coast’s clear. I’ll meet back with you later,  okay?”

She walked over and gave him a deep hug. “I’m sorry you have to deal with this, Vir. I just… I wish…”

Smiling, he broke her embrace. “Thanks, Maiya. That means a lot to me.”

Maiya squeezed his shoulder, then cracked the front door and slipped out.

All I have to do now… is wait, I guess.

Vir had lost  count of the number of times he’d been alone in the house… but today?  Today, the prospect of spending several hours by himself chilled him to  his very bones.

“C’mon Rudvik. Hurry…”