“Stay here,” Ken said in a low voice. “Don’t expose yourselves unless absolutely necessary.”
Without waiting for a response, he moved in silence to rejoin his wives. Showing an unnerving amount of skill, the four of them quickly disappeared into the darkness of the forest, leaving the two of them crouched in the bushes along a dirt road that led to the human camp. Once he was sure they were out of earshot, Noah turned to Ciri.
“I think we need to talk about your dad,” he whispered.
“What do you mean?” she asked, equally quietly.
“I thought he was…I dunno, a house husband?”
“He is.”
“What the hell was he before then?”
She went silent for a long moment, eyes locked on the wooden gate approximately a hundred meters in front of them. To its right, a guard carrying a torch patrolled along the parapet, gazing out into the forest before turning and walking away from them. Even from a distance Noah could see the same black-and-red armour as the guard Aelya had captured, as well as the bow slung across his back and the sword attached to his belt.
“I do not know,” Ciri answered finally.
If not for the laws of hospitality, I’d think she was lying, Noah thought to himself before taking a deep breath. “How can that be?”
“It is one of the few things that he refuses to speak of to me. My mothers likely know, but they will not tell me either.”
He shook his head. “Ciri, you’re probably the smartest person I’ve ever met. You have to have some guesses.”
“I…do,” she said.
“Can you share those with me?”
She paused for a moment. “What do you believe he was?”
Knowing he was entering a potential emotional minefield with this conversation, Noah proceeded carefully. “He’s obviously got some training. He knows how to kill and how to interrogate a prisoner—those aren’t skills that come to somebody naturally. At least, not with the level of calm he has.” He furrowed his brow. “He also has some knowledge of military strategy. The way he came up with a plan in the moment, positioned us exactly where we needed to go, and your moms followed his orders unquestioningly…”
“Your conclusions thus far line up well with mine,” Ciri agreed, watching the guard pace back towards the gate.
“But…” he said, letting the question hang in the air for a moment.
“But the tribe possesses no military forces. Nor do wild Fae in general—the entire concept of an organized military runs contrary to our ethos. The only time we use violence is when the natural world”—she gestured to the camp—“or our tribe is threatened. And even then, it is incumbent upon the citizens of the tribe to take up arms, not a formal military.”
Like a militia, Noah thought before replying. “So what does that mean? He joined the military of another country?”
She chewed her lip and fidgeted with her grimoire as she watched the guard walk away again. “That seems like the likely conclusion, yes.”
“Who, though?”
“While I cannot answer that directly…” She trailed off. “It is rumored that both the summer and the winter Fae have employed wild Fae in the past. Both nations also possess large military forces.”
Noah adjusted his legs so they wouldn’t cramp before responding. “Why?”
“A summer or winter Fae would likely be stopped and questioned if they were caught travelling across Therondale. A wild Fae is much more likely to travel through the old forest paths undetected, and even if they were stopped they are common enough in most areas of the country. They would likely be able to explain away why they are where they are without arousing suspicion.”
“That…sounds an awful lot like a spy,” Noah said slowly.
“Yes. For obvious reasons though, both the summer and winter Fae deny such a practice.”
“What specifically would these spies be doing, if they existed?”
“Again—and I cannot stress enough that this is only hearsay—but these individuals would often be employed to watch certain humans or events and deliver reports back to military leadership. Sometimes, though, they would be asked to take more direct action as well. Or so it is said.”
“Direct action…” Noah said, eyes wide. “Like the kind of action that would require someone with excellent knife skills?”
“Yes,” Ciri said.
“Why would the summer and winter Fae want to—” he started.
Boom!
A shot of lightning brightened the forest, followed instantly by the rumble of thunder and the sound of exploding wood. A moment later an enormous fireball crashed into another section of the camp, causing shouts of alarm to ring out through the night. Noah’s mouth hung open in shock as the twin attacks crashed against the circular-walled camp on the opposite side of them, causing the sentry they’d been watching to sprint towards the danger.
“This is not the opportune time for this conversation,” Ciri said.
“Agreed,” Noah nodded.
The sounds of additional magical explosions were quickly followed by the ring of steel on steel as the battle truly started. As the minutes ticked by, Noah took some comfort in the fact that he could still hear fighting, meaning that Ciri’s parents were still alive. Conversely, with every passing moment Ciri seemed to become more agitated, fidgeting with her grimoire, the rings on her fingers, and her hair before finally speaking.
“We should go in there and help,” she said in a soft voice.
Noah turned to look at her, incredulous at the courage she was showing. “What?”
“We should go in there,” she repeated.
“Your father said to stay here.”
“I cannot stand idly by while my parents are in danger,” she countered. “I am a Fae woman. I must protect the males of my tribe, including my father. It is my duty.” She looked at him with pleading eyes. “But I cannot do this alone. I need your help.”
The way she looked at him spoke to something deep and primal within Noah. A cool feeling of resolve washed over him, blanketing the jittery anxiety he’d felt only a moment ago. As he locked eyes with her, a single thought solidified in his mind.
Fuck it. If she can find the courage, so can I.
He nodded wordlessly before standing and pointing his crossbow at the gates. Ciri stood beside him and for a moment they waited, wavering on the precipice between action and inaction. When nothing jumped out at them from the darkness, they moved forward, with Noah taking the lead.
Before they could close the distance to the wall, a woman burst forth from the gates, firelight illuminating their immediate area. Unlike the guards they’d seen before, she was wearing hooded robes with black and red patterns on them. Under one arm she held a thick-looking book that looked concerningly similar to Ciri’s grimoire.
Her eyes went wide as she looked at them before flipping open the book she held, searching for a page. Without thinking, Noah levelled and fired his crossbow. He’d aimed for the woman’s chest, but given the distance between them the bolt sank far faster than he would have liked. It still impacted her though, sinking deeply into her thigh and causing her to fall and cry out in pain.
Process feelings later. Noah grit his teeth as the guilt welled up within him. Deal with the threat now.
A moment later, Noah’s eyes were drawn upwards from the wounded conduit to another moving figure. Its two-meter-tall frame shuffled with a limp, and its diseased green skin was visible beneath the various cuts and scrapes on its tattered clothes. For the moment it ignored Noah and Ciri, scuffling forward until it reached the now-whimpering woman, who was frozen with fear.
All it took was a casual-looking overhand strike to end the woman’s life.
His mind having finally caught up to the fact that they were now face-to-face with a Corrupted, Noah pumped the slider on his crossbow to reset the weapon. Unfortunately for them, the click of the action caused the creature to finally notice the duo, a feral grin spreading across its face as it did. It began to slowly shuffle towards them, arms spread wide as if to embrace them.
“Back!” Noah shouted before pulling the trigger again.
Thunk.
The crossbow’s bolt flew short once more, embedding itself in the Corrupted’s stomach and causing it to stagger. Noah racked the slider once more as he and Ciri continued to backpedal, giving them as much space as possible between them and the horrific monster. His decision was immediately validated when the creature began to move again, this time with a snarl written across its face.
Thunk.
The third bolt caught the creature in the chest, driving it back several paces. It gurgled in anguish before grabbing hold of the bolt and breaking the protruding piece off with one hand, then picking up the pace. Its feet began to shuffle forward faster, shortening the distance between it and Noah far too quickly and causing him to hurriedly rack the slider once more.
Click.
Noah’s eyes went wide when he pulled the trigger only for nothing to happen. He glanced down at the mechanism to see that the hook hadn’t caught the string, preventing it from launching the bolt forward into the quickly advancing monster. Gritting his teeth, he slammed the slide forward before slowly pulling it back, cocking the weapon just as the Corrupted closed to within ten meters.
Thunk.
This time, Noah’s aim was true. The bolt slammed into the creature directly between the eyes, causing it to suddenly stop. It stood there cartoonishly for a second before falling forward into the dirt, motionless. He let out a deep exhale before turning and looking at Ciri.
“Gotta…shoot for the head…next time,” he said through another forced calming breath.
“Yes,” she said, her eyes still wide with fear.
Gathering himself, he racked the slider more carefully before nodding towards the gate. “We should go check on that woman.”
“Yes,” Ciri agreed, starting toward the dead body.
I didn’t kill her, Noah justified to himself, forcing his legs to start moving. Not really. The corrupted would have caught her.
Doing his best not to dwell on the macabre task ahead, Noah kept his eyes—and his crossbow—up as he closed the distance to the woman. When he reached her, he looked down and nudged the book from her hand with his boot. Ciri scooped it up a moment later and began to flip through it, her eyes widening with every page.
“Noah, this grimoire is…incredible,” she said, astounded.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“I did not believe humans had access to many of these spells.” She furrowed her brow, then amended, “They should not have access to many of these spells. I do not even recognize some of them.”
“Can we use them?” he asked.
“No. These are only the runes. They lack description. Casting a new spell without knowing its effects would cause Corruption. And while I recognize many of these runes, I would want a scribe to check them and ensure accuracy before casting them.”
“I meant as evidence for the king and queen,” Noah clarified.
“Ah. I…do not believe so. While the knowledge of these spells alone is suspicious, it does not inherently prove treason.”
“Shit,” Noah muttered, gritting his teeth. “Alright, fine. You hold onto that, but keep your grimoire out. We may still need your magic.”
“Right,” she agreed, stuffing the dead conduit’s grimoire into her satchel.
The sounds of battle still rang through the night as the duo moved through the gateway into the human encampment. Noah swept his crossbow left and right, searching for threats with his finger on the trigger. As they moved farther past the walls, Ciri turned and walked backward to cover their rear.
She might be inexperienced, but she’s not dumb, Noah thought. Glad I’m not doing this alone.
Even in the dull light of torches and bonfires scattered across the roughly two-hundred-meter-wide encampment, Noah’s analytical mind quickly drew a few conclusions.
The first was that the battle had long since moved into the forest—something that almost made him exhale in relief. After seeing how Ciri’s parents had seemingly melted into the darkness earlier, he knew fighting there would heavily favor them. Some part of him almost felt bad for the deaths about to be visited upon any guards unfortunate enough to have survived the initial attacks, given how quick and merciless it was likely to be.
The second was that the wooden circular wall surrounding the camp was of obviously new, haphazard construction, whereas the well-built grey stone structure at its center was much older. As he looked closer, he realized the wooden buildings adjacent to the stone one were newly built as well. The two largest wooden structures still smoldered, and when the wind shifted, the scent of burned hair and charred meat told him not all their occupants had escaped the blaze.
That’s probably the barracks, where they were sleeping, Noah realized. Ken knew exactly where to hit them first.
The final realization was that the stakes driven into the ground on the far side of the compound were grave markers. Beside the makeshift graveyard, a pair of griffon heads were mounted on spears, their beaks hanging open as the flesh rotted away. Beside those were a quartet of thankfully empty human-sized cages made of thick steel and mounted on wagons – one of which looked to be damaged from the initial attack and hanging open as a result.
I guess that answers where the Corrupted came from.
“We should check inside that stone building,” Ciri said, glancing toward it before resuming her vigil. “It is an ancient Fae ruin.”