Fire of the Inquisitor

Decius had begun moaning again. Titus had thought that the man was getting better, he had stopped sweating so much and his heart had stopped beating so fast. However, his skin was still so very cold, even with all the blankets they had thrown on him. Titus did not hold out much hope for the man’s recovery, but he prayed that Decius would gain enough strength to wake and tell them what had really happened.

“Someone’s coming,” Leo said.

Titus jumped to his feet and nodded for Leo and Gratian to take their positions. Titus listened as someone shifted the gravel just around the corner of their hiding spot. The footsteps sounded inconsistent, like those of a drunkard. Titus thought that this might be the moment they had been waiting for.

“Where is everyone?” a familiar voice said.

Titus relaxed slightly, allowing his hand to fall from his sword. Behind him, Decius started to cough up phlegm. Flavius came into view, looking for his fellow soldiers. When he saw Titus he hesitated for a moment then squinted as if looking into a bright light. In reality, Titus had taken a step back into the darker shadows where Decius was lying.

“Decanus?” Flavius approached him slowly. “What’s going on?”

“You tell me.” Titus took another step back. “Where have you been?”

“What are you talking about?” Flavius frowned. “I told you I went to look for food.”

Titus shook his head. “From what we can guess, you have been gone for almost two whole days.”

“Two days?” Flavius touched his forehead lightly, where Titus had just noticed he was bleeding. The soldier took a step back, looking confused and frightened. Not a normal demeanor for the man. “What’s going on, where is everybody?”

“I’ll ask you again.” Titus raised his hand for the man to stop. “Where have you been?”

“You don’t believe me,” Flavius reached for his belt, “I’ll show you.”

“Take his sword,” Titus commanded. Unseen by Flavius, Leo and Gratian had been approaching the man from behind and now were restraining him.

Flavius let out a surprised yelp and struggled against the two men. “What are you doing?” He flailed his arms. “Let go of me!”

“Enough!” Titus said. The two soldiers let Flavius free but stayed close to him with their swords drawn and his on the ground. Titus emerged from the shadows for the first time, looking into the man’s drained eyes. “Tell us what you have done.”

“I haven’t done anything.” Flavius started to sob. “I am a good soldier.”

“Yes, you are.” Titus walked over to a large rock and removed a cloth that had been covering it. “Good enough to do this.”

Flavius stifled a scream with the back of his hand. “What happened to them?”

“We were hoping you would tell us.” Titus looked down at the bodiless heads of the two soldiers named Marcus. Their hair had been mostly removed and they had the same burnt like wounds as Decius. Thier faces were frozen in agony. “They went looking for you.”

“You think I did this?” Flavius said. “It had to be the creature.”

Titus spat on the ground. “Why would the creature throw their heads back at us while we were sleeping?”

“He wants to drive us mad,” Flavius said. He looked at the two other soldiers for help. “You remember how it was.”

“We remember the shadows frightening us,” Gratian said. “But we didn’t see Decius get attacked.”

Flavius motioned toward the moaning man. “Do you think I could make him sick like that.”

“You are skilled with poisons,” Leo said.

“How do we know you haven’t been making some when we weren’t looking?” Titus added.

“I don’t believe this.” Flavius fell to knees. “The answer is right in front of you, but still you blame one of your own.”

Just as he said this the little goth boy came walking into the camp. He looked at the men curiously for a moment, then continued to his sleeping area.

“Where has he been?” Flavius hissed.

Titus looked at the boy. “You know he goes to find his own food.”

“Food!” Flavius screamed. The soldier jumped to his feet and dashed for the boy before Leo and Gratian could react. Flavius grabbed the uncaring boy and held him in the air. “I’ve never seen him eat,”

“Let him go!” Titus yelled.

“Where is this food you find?” Flavius shook the uncaring boy. “Maybe you want to eat us.”

“Let him go or we will kill you!” Titus commanded.

“Kill me?” Flavius said. “Kill this boy, set right the mistake you made so long ago.”

“Flavius,” Titus pleaded.

As if something in the man had snapped he saw the way his fellow soldiers were looking at him and dropped the boy to his feet. Then he reached for his belt and removed a small pouch. “Unlike the boy I can prove where I have been.”

Flavius let the pouch fall to the ground and three small fruits came rolling out of it. Leo and Gratian traded surprise looks with each other.

“How do we know this isn’t the way the poison is delivered?” Gratian asked.

“I don’t care if you believe me anymore,” Flavius said. He knelt down and placed one of his palms on the ground. “None of us are ever going to see our families again.” He turned his head to Titus. “Please decanus, give me my sword and I will go die fighting the creature.”

“No.” Titus walked over to the fruit Flavius had returned with and placed them back in the pouch. “No one leaves the campsite anymore.”

“But decanus….” Gratian started before Titus cut him off with a cruel stare.

Titus walked retreated to shadows again, where Decius was tossing back in forth on his bed. The captain sat down next to his soldier and looked at him with pity. Softly he said, “I will try to make Decius drink some of the fruit juice. If he becomes worse and dies immediately we will know that Flavius poisoned the fruit. If not, we will wait for him to recover and tell us what really attacked him.”

Leo surprised everyone by speaking up. “But what about our food?”

Titus nodded, suddenly feeling very tired. “I will go alone.”

Flavius laughed. “It won’t matter, the creature will come for us soon enough.”

“Good,” Titus snapped. “Let it come.”

“What about the boy?” Gratian asked.

Titus looked to where the boy was sitting alone, the severed heads of the two men not too far away from him. Maybe it really was the boy that had brought them such bad luck, but he would not kill a child out superstitious fear. Titus shrugged. “He may go as he pleases, and if he chooses to leave us that is his choice.”

As if the boy had understood what was just said, he turned and looked Titus in the eye. Like the rest of his people he possessed crystal pale eyes and despite being in the shadows Titus knew that the boy could see him in the dark.