Categories > Original > Fantasy > A Tale of Shadows

Chapter 3

by Tall_Tales 0 reviews

Konstantin and Scipio continue their travels through the Aurelian Empire, and meet a new companion. Meanwhile, the mercenary group the Rabbits begins to move.

Category: Fantasy - Rating: PG-13 - Genres: Drama,Fantasy - Published: 2013-04-30 - 2289 words

0Unrated
The two weary companions trudged down the road into Eshtan. The patrols had ceased miles ago; no one entered Eshtan of their own free will. There were too many superstitions, too many ruins. The only people who would enter Eshtan for an extended period of time were the desperate, and those who could not afford a place on a ship. It was a black spot on the maps of the Empire, a vast swathe of land that was mostly uninhabited, and uninhabitable. The landscape was barren and wretched, scraggly trees pushing out of the soil, the very dirt beneath their feet seemed to leech the life and colour out of everything it touched. Very little wildlife survived, and all of it was scrawny and with little flavour.

"Scipio, I have a question."

"Mmnh?" Scipio turned his head to Konstantin, wiping the sweat beading on his forehead. They had been travelling without rest since the morning, and the sun had begun to set.

"Have you considered the incredible unlikelihood of our survival?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we met, yes?"

"That seems to be a given."

"Shut it. So we met, what, almost a week ago now? In that time we escaped execution by the rope snapping, and then the very earth opening up beneath our feet. Next, we were captured by some crazy inbred cannibal mountain man who for some reason was waiting outside of a major Aurelian city..."

"I'm seeing your point."

"And then this same crazy, inexplicably located, cannibal, inbred mountain man mananges to tie you improperly. You escape, knock him out, and he has enough supplies to keep us alive, including... Two waterskins, two pairs of boots, and two cloaks?"

"Well, there was more than that, it just so happens that this is all we took. Also, there was no real proof that he was a cannibal. Or inbred."

"Shut it. Anyway, it just seems too... Convenient, doesn't it? Impossible?"

"Maybe you have excellent luck?"

"I don't think so..."

They were quiet for a few moments. Scipio squinted at the horizon.

"What is that..?"

They drew closer, and found carnage. Four men, shattered and broken, limbs rent and torn from their bodies, faces aghast with terror, lay before them.

"What on earth happened here?" Konstantin whispered, eyes following Scipio, who began to pick through the bodies. "I don't feel comfortable grave robbing, Scipio."

"It's fine, there are no graves. This is just looting."

Konstantin, unable to argue with this logic, shrugged, and began picking through the corpses with his companion, struggling to ignore the musky scent of old blood. All told, they found swords ("Fine blades!" Scipio noted), and Scipio began pulling the boots and pants off one of the bodies.

"This will be perfect. Look, gold, with the crest of the Empire. Mercenaries?" Konstantin examined the pieces, grinning. Scipio shrugged, eyes scanning the area. The bodies were near the middle of the road, which had many of the scraggly trees along it's side.

"I don't believe so. See this symbol here? These men were from Oran."

"Oran?"

"Ah, right, you don't know mages. Oran is an independent country, on the Eastern coast."

"Independent? Really?"

"Very much so. They are some of the most potent users of magic on the continent, and powerful allies to the Emperor. In exchange for their services, they maintain independence, though they have adopted our currency..."

"Hm. Interesting."

"I'm from there." A small voice called out.

Scipio and Konstantin froze. Scipio put his hand to the hilt of his sword. "Who goes?"

"Are you nice?" The voice asked.

Konstantin signaled for Scipio to remove his hand. "We are."

"How do I know you're not lying?"

Konstantin's eyes slowly examined the area from where the voice was coming. He tapped Scipio, and pointed to a small foot poking out from behind a rock. "My name is Konstantin, who are you?"

"My name is Eva. You had better be nice, my father will not be happy with you if you're mean!" The voice dropped to a stage whisper. "Those men weren't nice, that's why they died."

Scipio began creeping towards the rock. "Who killed them?"

The voice seemed hesitant. "I... I don't know. I woke up, and they were dead." The voice trembled. Scipio hunkered down on the other side of the rock.

"Eva, why don't you come out? Are you hungry?"

The top of a small, blonde haired head popped up from behind the rock. "Do you have food?"

Scipio looked to Konstantin, and made a motion, as if to ask 'should I get her?'. Konstantin shook his hand at him. "Yes, my friend and I have food. Come out!"

A tiny girl came out from behind the rock. She was wearing a tattered dress, with filthy blonde hair that went to just below her shoulder. She seemed far too small for her clothing, as if she was starved. Her feet, Konstantin noted, were bare, and bloody. Her wrists were manacled. A slave?

Most glaring to him, however, were the lines that seemed to run all along her skin, in an intricate pattern.

"Eva, come here. Scipio, it's alright." Scipio noded, and stood. Eva slowly approached Konstantin, who began rooting around in his pockets. He pulled out a handful of berries, and offered them to her.

"She's not a rabbit, Konstantin." Scipio sighed, escorting Eva, though she kept a careful distance. Konstantin noted that her face was splotchy, had she been crying?

"How long have you been here, Eva?" He knelt down, Eva took the berries and began eating them ravenously.

"Um... Three days?"

"Have you had anything to eat or drink since then?" Eva shook her head, and Scipio offered her his waterskin. She struggled to lift it, but with some assistance from Scipio managed to drink her fill.

"Eva, what were these men doing?"

"My father sent them here with me, we were going to Delci."

Konstantin looked to Scipio, who seemed smug that he was capable of answering Konstantin's questions. "Delci is another independent nation to the south, religious capital of the continent."

Eva nodded, and smiled. "Yeah, we were going to Delci. They were my father's men, but they weren't nice, so they died."

Scipio frowned. "Why do you keep saying that, Eva?"

Eva looked to Scipio, head tilted to one side, a confused look on her face. "Bad people die, that's what father told me. They died, so they must be bad, right?"

Scipio and Konstantin exchanged a look, but said nothing.

"You know what Oran is, right, Skip... Scipio?"

Scipio noded, and gestured to Konstantin, who immediately set about making a camp fire. "It's where the mages come from."

Eva smiled brightly. "Yeah, that's where I'm from!"

"Are you a mage, Eva?"

She shook her head. "No, I can't do magic. That's why I'm going to Delci. Do you know magic?"

Scipio shook his head. "I... I am just a soldier, and my friend Konstantin is a trader from the north."

Eva made a face of shock. "I've never met someone from the north! Kon.." She struggled briefly, before Konstantin intervened.

Striking flint on steel, Konstantin attempted to start the campfire. "You can call me Tin."

Scipio frowned at him. "Tin?"

He shrugged. "My friends used to call me Tin, ever since we were small." Scipio made a small noise of understanding, then set about moving the corpses off the road.

"I've never met someone from the north, Tin!" Eva made a small, pleased smile, as if she were let into a private club. "Do you know magic, Tin?"

Konstantin smiled, and shook his head. "No, but I'd like to learn about it. Do you know anything about magic, Eva?" The fire caught, and Konstantin began fanning the flames.

Another smile, and Eva nodded enthusiastically. "Lots! I know pretty much everything, father gave me the best lessons."

"Do you think you could tell me about it?"

Evan frowned, and thought on this for a moment. "Can I have more berries?"

With a laugh, Konstantin dug out another handful, though he noted that this dug rather deeply into the meager supplies he and Scipio had managed to steal and forage. They would have to hunt tomorrow.

Eva ate the berries with gusto, and scooted close to the small flame. "I can teach you about magic now.." She yawned.

"Tomorrow, Eva. You should get some rest, I think these last three days have been tough on you." Scipio removed his cloak, and placed it over her shoulders, but she was already asleep.

Scipio settled in next to Konstantin after laying Eva down. "Those markings on her skin..."

"What of them? A slave brand?"

"Have you seen a slave brand that complicated? No, listen, I've seen such markings before. They're... How do I explain this... They're magic tattoos? They burn you out, but they give you the ability to use magic more easily."

"So she lied then?" Konstantin frowned.

"No, that's just it, the tattoos glow when active."

"So she... Lied... Then..?"

"No you... You're not listening. They are always active. I don't know, maybe her father just had her tattooed that way for kicks? I've never been one to question these things... But why this little girl?"

Konstantin frowned, and stared at Eva from across the fire. What had killed those men, and what did the tattoos mean? He shook his head, trying to dispel the thoughts. It wasn't worth thinking about, not until they were safe from the Empire. He ate some of the remaining berries, and a small piece of bread, before laying down on the cold ground, and fell readily into sleep.



"What's the job, boss?" A rough looking man with a heavy beard asked, as Stanislav took his seat at the head of the table. The room he found himself in was in traditional northern style, with heavy wooden beams supporting a sturdy ceiling. The room was lit by a number of candles and braziers, the flickering light casting wide shadows.

Stanislav look to the four people gathered around him. The bearded mage, Godrick, and a woman playing with a knife who he recognized as Isla. There was an older man fingering the edge of a blade, the Old Tomm, all scars and gray hair, and the newest member of the mercenary company, the man who sent shivers down Stanislav's spine, Suen, who sat quietly, hands linked together on the table.

"We are to hunt down and capture the wanted fugitive, Scipio Marcellus." There was a quiet murmur around the table, and Stanislav raised his hand. "Now I haven't dispatched any other teams, because frankly I don't believe we'll need them. You will be the first to get a crack at it."

"And the last." Isla grinned, sheathing her knife. "We won't fail you, Stanislav."

"I don't suspect you will. Be warned, however, that Scipio is still a dangerous man. Nothing you four can't handle, but don't take any needless risks. I want you all to come back alive. Understood?"

There was another murmur, and the mercenaries stood. As they turned to leave, Stanislav called for Suen.

"I need to talk to you."

Suen turned to Stanislav, seeming nervous. "What about, sir?"

"I don't want you to fight Scipio."

"Why not?" Suen seemed taken aback, and possibly a little hurt. "I know I'm new, but..."

"No, don't misunderstand me. I don't want you to fight him, I want you to watch him."

Suen frowned. "Understood, sir."

Stanislav nodded, and dismissed the man, suppressing shivers. Up until a month ago, when he first met Suen, he doubted there was a man alive, except maybe Tacitus, who could make him feel that way. He pushed the thoughts aside. Now was not the time for that.



"These ones, these are runes. We use them to... Um... Focus energy. Mages do, though, not me." Eva explained, drawing various lines in the dirt with her finger. "See? We mix them together, and that lets us do things, like start fires, or um, make things."

"Is that all runes can do?" Konstantin asked, looking at the runes with wonder.

"Nuh, see, you can put them on things, and they'll make the thing you put them on do what you told it to." Eva concentrated for a moment, then recited: "The power of runes is not in the lines, but in the mind of the mage who uses them. By focusing the energy inherent in their being onto the runes, we give the energy meaning and purpose."

Konstantin nodded, impressed. "You remember all that?"

Eva nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I remember all of my lessons. Teacher told me that to do magic, you just need to have focus, and the energy." She frowned. "I don't have the energy, though, so I can't."

Konstantin frowned, and looked at the runes. It couldn't possibly be so easy? Magic? He looked at one of the runes. "What's this one, again?"

"Isatum, it's for fire."

Konstantin nodded, and took out a knife, and carved the rune into a branch. "So, if I wanted to use magic, and could use magic, what do I do?"

"You put the rune on the thing, and then you focus on the rune really hard, with here." She pointed to her forehead. "It's like thinking, but it's not, you use a different thing."

A different thing. Konstantin frowned, and stared at the rune, and closed his eyes, concentrating with all of his might.

"Sometimes you can't use some runes, though. It's not... Ooh! Tin!"

Konstantin opened his eyes, and found that a small spark had caught on the branch. A smile spread across his face, and Eva squealed and hugged him excitedly. "You can do it! You can do magic!"
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