Hungry Heart - Book 5 - Ch. 12 (Patreon)

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Chapter Twelve – A Foreign Feeling

Duril observed Toru with worried eyes as the young tigershifter came out of the house. He was holding his arm and seemed to be gripped by a case of tremors, because his entire body jerked from time to time, something Duril had seen in patients during the war, when they were overtaken by fever and a sickness inside them that didn’t want to let them go.

“Look ahead,” Claw warned in a quiet voice, and Duril pulled his eyes away so that he didn’t draw the unwanted attention of those present to the furtive nature of the way Toru moved.

He bowed to the people in the audience. “The dancing bear, folks,” he said in a voice that trembled ever so slightly.

Those in attendance didn’t appear to notice. They were clapping and laughing, enthralled by Claw’s antics; the bearshifter appeared to be apt at fooling an audience into his being nothing but a bear trained to perform for a few laughs.

And coins. While he kept his head bowed, Duril heard the clink of small coins being thrown at his feet.

“Pick them up,” Claw advised him. “We might need them later.”

It unnerved Duril to do so, but the bearshifter was right. He now understood a little more of why Claw was so adamant about having a deep dislike for places where commerce seemed to be the ruling god. It was all a matter of how he was seeing things now, since part of the ugliness of Coinvale had come to light, in the shape of those guards who had taken Varg away, and the strange rules governing the place.

He liked to believe in the goodness of people. Through thick and thin, he had never stopped believing. Even as he was insulted and thrown to the ground, or having rocks pelt his back when he wasn’t looking, he had nurtured that belief. But back then, he had only himself to worry about. To think that such people would turn against those he loved and cared about made an anger grow inside him, a foreign feeling that became more familiar with the passing of days. It had to be his inheritance from his sire, but Duril believed it to be more than that. He would have to ask Claw about it; the bearshifter was the wisest in their group, and he must have passed through his fair share of changes of heart in his lifetime.

Bending forward, he began picking up all of the pieces of copper and silver. They wouldn’t pay gold for such a show, and that was understandable. Yet, Duril felt as if the humiliation Claw must have endured under the laughter and clapping of the people of Coinvale couldn’t be repaid so easily.

They bade farewell to the group and quickly moved away, hoping without looking, that Toru was right behind them. Once they turned a corner and were away from any prying eyes, they stopped and waited for their friend to catch up with them. Toru appeared soon after, and his eyes – eyes Duril knew only because of the shadows in them, not their color or shape – appeared briefly so tired and wild that it was hard to understand what he must have gone through.

“How did it go?” Claw asked directly and shifted into his human after looking in all directions for possible witnesses. The place they had chosen for their get-together was silent at that hour, and the back of the houses, as seemed to be the custom here, had no windows.

“It’s here.” Toru opened his palm. “The same thing as with the island in the sky happened. The oven broke right in the middle, revealing the shard fragment. But there is no way the owners of that house won’t notice the mess.”

Claw nodded. “We must move quickly. It might take a while, but at some point, the people who use the shard fragments will start noticing that they are missing. They will put two and two together and might realize that their precious pieces of darkness happen to disappear while a dancing bear was prancing around their streets.”

A wan smile appeared on Toru’s face, putting Duril’s heart at ease for a moment. “I saw the way you danced, Claw,” he said, with the amusement of youth. “I’d never thought I’d see you doing something like that.”

“Stop giggling, kitty. I’m doing it for your good.”

“I know, Claw,” Toru said and offered a short bow of gratitude. “Let’s move on.”

“Don’t you want to rest a little?” Duril suggested. He didn’t dare to add that he thought that Toru looked a little pale. For someone as strong as the young tiger, that would surely sound like an insult, and that was the last thing he wanted to do.

“There are many fragments to find. We shouldn’t rest until I have them all,” Toru said and made his hand into a fist.

“Kitty here is right,” Claw said. “Duril, you keep that purse at the ready. These people better pay us for the show we’re putting on for them.”

“I’m not comfortable with keeping the coins we’re getting paid for this,” Duril said.

“You might not be, but this is the sort of place that understands only this sort of payment.” Claw looked up at the morning sky turning to a deeper blue. “We should be ready.”

There was no comeback for something like that. Did gold harden people’s hearts to the point they no longer felt human? It was a question he didn’t have an answer for.

***

Vetor seemed frightened even to make the smallest move. He looked up at Varg, trembling and making his fur spike in all directions, like a cat facing a ferocious dog.

“I can bite you in half with one snap of my jaws,” Varg warned the curator of the strange market below.

“I know,” Vetor said with a gasp. “But even if you do there is no way out.”

“That can’t be. Any place with a door in has a way out.”

“Have you tried going back the way you came?” Vetor questioned. “I’m sure you did,” he added, and his words sounded accusing. And then, under his breath, “What were they thinking, sending a shifter down here? This is no place for a shifter.”

“Take my threat at face value,” Varg said in a low menacing voice. “I will use brutal force if necessary. And what sort of crimes did these people commit anyway, to put them in this horrible prison?”

“You don’t expect to find a way out for all of them, do you?” Vetor bristled, forgetting his terror for a moment.

“If what I’ve seen of the justice you mete out in this place is a good example of how things are done here, I doubt their crimes justify the punishment. They should be back in their homes, with their families.”

Vetor threw him a shrewd look. “Is that your secret greed? A home, a family?”

“That’s not greed,” Varg said in contempt. “But as the keeper of a place such as this, I don’t expect you to understand. The world is made up of more than just buyers and sellers, as you seem to think.”

“Then there must be a way out,” Vetor said brightly, as if a sliver of hope had been presented to him by an unexpected source.

“You don’t say,” Varg said dryly. “I wonder what made you change your mind so abruptly.”

“I am the curator of this place, and I must guard and protect it. I have no doubt that you will destroy it if I don’t give you what you want.”

Varg wasn’t entirely sure he liked the shrewdness he heard in Vetor’s voice. The curator had gone from being frightened to concocting some sort of plan within mere moments. Such creatures were sly, hard to pin down, and Varg had met his fair share of them in his lifetime.

For now, as experience had also taught him, following Vetor was the only course of action available to him. If he insisted on using force, he risked cornering the curator of the Market of the Damned, giving him no chance to see a way out. As long as Vetor saw one for himself, there might be one in the cards for Varg, as well.

“You must follow me,” Vetor said and gestured for him to follow along. He was rolling down the ledge toward a destination Varg had yet to see.

They appeared be heading straight into a wall, but Varg didn’t slow down. Vetor was moving incredibly fast for his small size, but Varg suspected that some unknown principle of life had brought this creature into being, and it was behind his nature and purpose.

He threw another look at the sorry-looking market at his feet. The buyers and sellers appeared to remain unaware of anything happening beyond their small world. They continued to move in circles, never missing a step, never stopping to look up and realize where they were, or why they were there.

Varg shrugged off the sense of helplessness that overcame him at that sight. The moment he moved his eyes away, that feeling was gone.

***

How many had there been so far? He had lost count. Their plan had worked and, while Claw and Duril were out in the street enticing the passersby and the homeowners to come and watch the dancing bear, Toru snuck into the houses and discovered the hidden shard fragments. It took a toll on him, but he ground his teeth and said nothing. He saw the growing worry in Duril’s eyes; he had noticed that even Claw watched him with a sort of solemn silence that told him that he couldn’t keep the growing pressure hidden from his friends, no matter how much he tried. Not for long, at least. Despite what he wanted, which was to go on and on until he finished his quest, after this house, he’d have to ask his friends to let him rest for a bit. Maybe even sleep.

He caught himself right before his chin hit his chest. Was he that tired already? He had a new sort of admiration for those who weren’t shifters. Their frail bodies could only do so much, but they went on with their everyday lives without complaining. They would never know the meaning and shape of true power, and Toru pitied them for it.

If only he could close his eyes for a moment. Just a moment…

***

“He’s not coming out,” Duril whispered to Claw. “How long do you think you can keep these people’s attention on your antics? I need to go after him. Something must have happened.”

“I agree,” Claw said as he turned in a skillful pirouette that made the people gathered around them in a circle gasp in awe. “Say something about how well trained I am that you can even leave me to perform on my own, while you step into the audience for a moment.”

“Won’t they believe that there’s something afoot? And I’ll be gone for more than just a moment.”

“I will do my best. I know you’ll do yours. If push comes to shove, I’ll let out a roar that will freeze the blood in their veins.”

“Let’s hope we won’t get to that point. Such a thing will surely draw the attention of the guardians of the city. I don’t know if there are many of them, but if we stumble upon the same people who took Varg away, they’ll recognize me and I’ll have quite the explanation to give.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we reach it. For now, go find Toru. This cannot be good.”

Duril opened his arms wide and offered the audience a false grin. It was only because so much was in the balance that he could perform this role. He gave them the exact words fed to him by Claw from behind, and he saw a glint of panic in their eyes, so he grinned harder. Curiosity outweighed fear, and he stepped away from Claw, who immediately pushed himself up on his front paws, balancing his large and heavy body as he swayed slightly right and left. The audience broke into applause again.

There was no time to waste. Any moment spent away from Claw might serve as a reminder to the fascinated audience that a dancing bear wasn’t supposed to be without his master for long. After all, a bear was a savage creature that could break their bones and shred the flesh at the drop of a hat.

***

“Toru, Toru.”

Someone was calling him, and Toru had the vague impression that he could tell who it was. With great difficulty, and only because that someone was shaking him, he opened his eyes. “Duril?” he asked. “Wait,” he added and stared around him in confusion.

They were inside a house, and the shard fragment had just passed into his hand… He had closed his palm, but it hurt so badly that he let out a short cry. Duril covered his hand with his and then said, “We must get out of here. Can you walk?”

“I can,” he said, but whatever power of will still existed in his mind didn’t have a counterpart in the body he had been cursed with. He felt that he was falling right after he managed to get to his feet.

Duril caught him. It was a bit funny the way Duril seemed so big compared to him now. The healer said nothing and just hiked him up using his only arm.

“I know you’re not happy about this, Toru, but it’s getting dangerous if we stay too long in a single place,” Duril said.

“I will carry you ten times over once I’m back to being myself,” Toru promised.

“I’m sure.”

He noticed how Duril stopped abruptly, and he didn’t have to struggle to turn his head, because he heard a voice.

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” the voice was shrill and belonged to a young woman by the sound of it.

“We were thirsty,” Duril said quickly. “We knocked but no one answered. We only took a bit of water.”

“But I didn’t hear you knock,” the voice insisted.

Steps followed, quick and angry.

“What have you done here?”

She was most likely talking about the mess Toru had made out of her sewing machine.

“This is when we run,” Duril whispered. “Hold on tight, Toru.”

He didn’t need to hear that twice. He gripped Duril’s shoulder as tight as he could while they rushed out of the house. It was so strange to see the world moving past so fast and having nothing to do about it. He wished he had his tiger now more than ever before.

“Thieves, thieves,” the young woman’s shrill voice followed them.

Dozens of heads turned to listen to her cry for help. And then, Toru heard a roar so loud that he shrunk into Duril’s chest as if he knew what fear of beasts was.

“That was Claw,” Duril told him. “We need to get away from these people.”

Toru knew that both he and Duril had been grabbed and were being taken away at an even greater speed. Claw must have them on his back now. He closed his eyes because his belly couldn’t take it.

***

It shouldn’t have surprised him. Vetor pushed his round body onto a small shape protruding from the wall and a concealed door opened before them.

“And you said there was no way out,” Varg said and stepped inside.

“If there is, you’ll have to find it on your own,” Vetor replied in an ominous voice and rolled himself outside.

Varg wasn’t fast enough. The wall closed before his eyes, leaving him in darkness.

“Great,” he said to himself. “I should have expected that.”

Was this how Claw must have felt when he had been trapped in that labyrinth under the House of Merchants in Shroudharbor? Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to wander to and fro for hundreds of years like his friend had.

Although he couldn’t see well, Varg looked ahead, hoping that at least some shapes would be discernible in front of his eyes, giving him an idea as to his surroundings. At first, he thought that he had been consigned to the deepest darkness, and it took little to understand that he was at the beginning of a long corridor. He needed to touch the walls on either side to move forward so he didn’t miss any opening that might appear.

Going back to pound on the unmoving wall wasn’t something he thought would be useful. As he had followed his path in life at all times, the only way open to him was moving forward for as long as his feet could carry him.

Vetor had kept talking about a secret greed. The curator appeared to be a simple creature, given a few rules to abide by. Yet, he knew what shifters were, and he was scared of them, too.

Any corridor, no matter how long, had to lead somewhere. If this trap had been meant for him as something that would hold him, a shifter, as if in a prison, it didn’t need to be too vast. A single room would have been enough. Or maybe the hope given by an open path ahead was a form of refined torture Varg hadn’t considered until now.

He would see what this thing was. He could only hope that his friends above had it better than he did right now.

***

“He’s asleep,” Duril whispered and touched Toru’s forehead. It was burning hot, but it wasn’t like a fever caused by sickness. More likely, he could chalk it up to exhaustion, which meant that the young tiger must have pushed himself way past the resources of his body. The body he had now. Toru was not only a shifter, he was an extraordinary shifter. That meant that things such as fatigue were not familiar to him. He was used to pushing himself way beyond the limits of any human. Even Duril had to admit that the half orc of his body was often challenged by the endless bundle of energy Toru displayed all the time.

To see him like this, even if it wasn’t his own body he was currently inhabiting, sent cold shivers down Duril’s spine.

“At least we’re no longer being followed by an angry mob. We can’t use the same trick twice, so we’re going to have to think of something else,” Claw said.

They were at an inn far from the place where they had been caught. With Claw returned to his human shape, they weren’t in immediate danger of being discovered, although Duril knew that his distinctive appearance was the thing most likely to cause them trouble. He was a half-orc with a missing arm. How many people, even in a place as large and busy as Coinvale, fit that description?

“You must lay low,” Claw recommended, as if he was reading his mind. “But we cannot let Toru put himself at risk like this again. I will go with him everywhere.”

“That will be dangerous.”

“Indeed. And we must wait for nightfall. Not many people could have seen Toru. Mako, since this is his body, is, luckily for us, a pretty average-looking young lad. He can easily be confused with many others his age, and the girl who stumbled upon you couldn’t have seen his face well, either. I’d say that this is the best option we have right now.”

“I hate being away from you while you are risking your lives,” Duril said.

“I understand that very well. I will take good care of Toru.”

“What can I do? Staying cooped up in here will be bad enough.”

“Yes, but it is the safest way for us to continue what we set ourselves to do. Make sure that you pay attention to your surroundings, even if you’re cooped up in here, as you say.”

They had chosen to wrap a cloth around Duril’s face to hide his tusks, and masked his missing arm by having a cape thrown over his shoulders. However, that didn’t mean that they could let their guard down.

***

When he woke up, the first thing he noticed was that it was dark. Duril’s familiar hand was touching his shoulder.

“Are you awake, Toru?” Duril asked gently. The healer sounded sleepy, which meant that his friends must have grown tired of waiting for him to open his eyes, and that was all right. After all, he had made a fool of himself by falling asleep when he was supposed to be finishing the quest he had set out to complete. “Don’t hurry to get up,” Duril added and supported him so that he could move into an upright position.

“That’s why I hate this puny body,” Toru mumbled. “Where is Claw? Where are we?”

“We’re at an inn far enough from the place we were spotted. We will have to be extra careful from now on.”

“I’m sorry,” Toru said and felt his shoulders slumping. Defeat was not a word known to him, and he wanted to get going again, to prove – to his friends, as well as himself – that he could do this and he wouldn’t be held back by the limits of a body that didn’t belong to him. “I will be on it right away.”

“You can rest a little more. We had food brought to our room, and there is plenty.”

“I’m not hungry,” Toru said. “Wait, did I just say that? I’m not myself anymore!”

Duril hugged him. “That’s not true. But you will have to eat a little and drink some wine to get on your feet. Claw is right outside. He wants to learn whether the news of our adventures today have reached this place already. People may become suspicious of us, and we might have to move to another place before long.”

“I just fell asleep,” Toru said as Duril moved around, lighting a candle and helping him see the shapes of the furniture around the room, as well as a round table with various foods laid out. His belly growled in response. “I am hungry,” he said with relief.

Duril chuckled and offered him his hand. “I knew the sight of food would make you think again. Now, I must tell you the plan Claw and I came up with while you were asleep. It is clear to us that it’s not going to be easy to continue to do this, and we don’t want to put you in danger more than is necessary. I will have to stay here, hidden from view, as people must have seen me when I took you out of the last house you were in to get the shard fragment and I had been on display with the dancing bear show. But Claw can move around with you, and he can protect you.”

“I don’t like the idea of leaving you alone,” Toru said, feeling an unpleasant sensation in the pit of his stomach, even though he had yet to grab a bite from the many delicious foods on the table before him.

“If the incident is reported, the guardians of this city will most likely come looking for me. They didn’t see you well, and Claw was in his bear shape. This is the only way for us to move forward, while thinking of your safety.”

“I hate this,” Toru murmured. He grabbed a juicy drumstick, hoping that the taste of meat would help him feel better.

It did, which meant that he was still himself.

“I don’t like it any more than you do. You will succeed in collecting all the shard fragments and then we will be out of here,” Duril said.

The assurance in the healer’s voice was genuine. It brought some solace to him, as well. With some meat in his belly, he would be able to face the world again.

TBC

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