The Missing Traveller

Mirielle caught her breath and Alister stood frozen. Lark’s pack fell to the floor by her feet.

Lark slumped against the wall in the corner of the cell, his hair down to his shoulders and shaggy, and his skin covered in cuts and bruises. A chunk of turmella hung around his neck from a chain, and he seemed barely conscious. Mirielle rushed over, nearly tripping over her skirts, and knelt in front of him.

Ren leaned on the wall. “Well, this is a nice change of scenery.”

Alister stared at her. “It’s a prison cell.”

“I was being sarcastic.” She smirked.

Alister suppressed a roll of his eyes, but raised an eyebrow. “You came back.”

Ren glared at him. “I have nothing left here, thanks to you. All there is to it.”

Alister’s mouth pulled into a smile, and he fixed his eyes on Mirielle. “Alright, sure.”

“Jondar?” Her whisper was as soft as her touch on his arm. Lark stirred and his eyelids lifted. Every small movement seemed to be a struggle.

“That…voice…” He drew his chin up, his face strained. “Mirielle?”

She rubbed his arms with her hands, her attentive eyes fixed on his heavy lids. “It’s me.”

Lark looked up to reveal his bloodshot eyes. Something of a smile twitched at his mouth, but it was more of a grimace than anything. “Can’t be...it’s a dream.”

Alister shot his glance up and down the corridors. They were empty. For now. “We really should get going. Can’t you get that turmella off his neck? Don’t touch it.”

Lark tilted his head at Alister’s voice, as Mirielle fiddled with the chain. “Who…?”

“It’s Alister Kinross, from Rindor.” The turmella and chain fell to the ground.

Lark shuddered a sigh as the turmella left his skin, though it left a darkened patch on his chest. He shook his head as if to clear it, and gazed up at Mirielle.

“We’ve got to leave.” Mirielle pulled him up and struggled under his weight. Alister ran to her side and supported as much of Lark’s weight as he could. The man couldn’t take his eyes off Mirielle.

“Your hair…” He brushed a lock behind her ear with a shaking hand.

Mirielle stared at him for a moment, her mouth open slightly. “Yes, two moronic boys made me dye it black.” She strained under his weight. “We had to look related. And this isn’t what’s important right now.”

“What’s important is getting a move on.” Ren threw Lark’s pack on. “Come on, bird man, let’s get to it.”

Lark held a hand to his chest. “Who…are you?”

“I’m Ren. One of the people responsible for saving your hide.”

They moved as quickly as possible out of the cell and down the corridor.

Yuri ran around the corner.

Yuri’s sons…Alister needed to confirm Yuri never told Desmond his sons’ names.

“Yuri, your—”

“We need to go out the front entrance.” Yuri’s voice was a fraction below calm. “The alarm will signal Defenders to come through this way.” He reached down to his side and unsheathed Ranvier to hand to Alister. “I brought this for you.”

Alister took Ranvier gratefully; he’d left the guard’s sword in the storeroom, and he felt much more comfortable using Ranvier rather than the broadsword the guard carried, anyway. He swapped Lark’s kite for his yewen staff, which he held in his left hand.

With every step, Lark seemed to be able to walk better. They made their way down the stairs which led to low sec, and over the iron door, jarred to the side. Alister stared at the doorway’s red, corroded edge as they staggered past.

At the top of the stairs stood the silhouettes of guards and Defenders.

“It’s time to fight, Alister.” Yuri drew a weapon Alister hadn’t seen before. He let the three-section staff unfold, each length of metal held together with chains.

Alister let Mirielle take Lark’s weight—he supported himself against the metal walls—and ran up the stairs with Yuri, the yewen staff in one hand and Ranvier in the other.

The two of them worked in unison, spinning and slashing their weapons. Yuri’s three-section staff snapped out to its full length the moment they entered the circular room. It knocked a Defender off his feet. Yuri wrapped the weapon around his body and let it fly out with the speed of a viper, hitting the Defenders that surrounded him.

Alister treated his weapons like dual staves, using moves from the form he learnt in Bastium to attack two or three opponents at once.

He ducked under a Defender’s blade. Ranvier slashed across the Defender’s chest. He spun, and knocked another guard in the skull with the staff. A Defender somewhere cried out. Alister struck a shoulder, a leg, a chest. Pain slashed across his side. He pushed it to the back of his mind the way he could only do in a fight, and twisted to glance a guard’s sword off his own.

He whipped around to face a Defender with his sword raised above his head, but before the sword fell, the Defender fell forwards onto the ground, a dagger between his shoulder blades.

Ren gave him a quick smile from the edge of the room and pulled out another knife.

Alister glanced back. Lark leaned against the wall, his hand clutching his chest where the turmella scorched. Mirielle extended her hand towards the fight, her face twisted with concentration. Alister whipped around in the direction of her hand, and a Defender swung a sword into the air beside him, his eyes glazed.

Alister’s lips pulled into a smile. Mirielle mimicked Mirage’s ability to blur vision.

He struck down the Defender under Mirielle’s spell, and shouted to Yuri between attacks.

“Yuri, did you ever tell Desmond the names of your sons?”

The man looked down at him like he was insane for a brief moment, and cleared the Defenders surrounding him with a mighty whip of his weapon. “No, why?”

Alister’s chest grew cold as he stood over the body he’d just slashed open. “He kept them alive.” He hit one Defender with Ranvier’s pommel, and knocked his legs out from under him with the yewen staff. “He showed me a photograph.” Alister kicked a Defender in the chest and lunged with Ranvier. “…And knew their names. He said they were being raised as Defenders.”

Yuri froze his attack, and deflected a Defender without looking. “Impossible. He’s lying.”

A guard slipped his sword through Alister’s defence. Alister gasped as it sliced his shoulder. He swung Ranvier at the attacker, who deflected three times before Alister got through. Before the next guard approached, Alister turned to Yuri, ignoring the blood which seeped from his shoulder. “He said they were Roan and Artur.”

Yuri responded with a wide-eyed stare. “How could he…?” For the first time, his mouth pulled into a joyful smile. “My sons…They’re alive?”

And then he lunged himself into the crowd, a spinning fury of staff sections. Alister fought off his own attacker, and plunged Ranvier into his chest. He stared, amazed, at the empty room.

“Let’s go.”

Alister tucked the staff under his arm and ran to Lark. He pulled the stumbling merchant across the low sec’s circular room, as the prisoners who lined the edge yelled pleas to free them, too.

Mirielle and Ren ran beside him, and Yuri led them through the final set of iron doors.

A weight lifted off Alister’s chest as they rounded the corner. Entrance ahead, the five of them paused for a moment to catch their breaths. Alister sighed with relief.

Yells and footsteps approached from outside.

Yuri grasped Alister’s arm and dragged him into an open room. With his other hand he pushed Mirielle and Ren inside, one after the other. “Secure the lock.”

Ren pulled an iron clasp over the lock, and whipped around to face Alister. “What now, then?”

“I—I don’t know,” Alister stammered between deep breaths. He pushed his shirt aside to examine his shoulder where the Defender struck him, and gritted his teeth. As his heartbeat slowed, pain spread from the bleeding wound.

Booted footsteps ran on the other side of the door. Barked orders instructed to search the prison. Alister tore off an edge of his shirt and tied it around his shoulder with a wince. The cut on his side made itself known, too, but it was too shallow to warrant his attention.

“The west,” Lark mumbled. “There’s a city…on the other side…”

Ren stared at him. “What’s he raving about?”

“There is a disposal chute in the corner, there.” Yuri flung a hand to the back of the room. “It’s big enough for us to fit through, but we’ll not be able to move quickly. If we can replace its cover before the Defenders break through…”

Mirielle nodded. “They’ll never know we left.”

She and Ren pushed aside the boxes in the corner to work on the cover.

Alister breathed a sigh and looked to Yuri. His eyebrows pulled down.

Yuri clutched his side with a grimace.

“Are you injured?”

Yuri glanced up. “One of the Defenders managed to cut into my side. It—it’s not…” He lifted his hand, and blood seeped through his shirt.

Alister cast his eyes around—they were in some kind of storeroom. “There has to be some bandages around here somewhere.”

He rummaged through the shelves.

“It’s alright, Alister,” Yuri said behind him.

“You need a bandage.” He grasped at a roll of cloth and turned back to Yuri. The man lifted his shirt.

Alister froze for a moment. This was no shallow graze. The wound ran deep through his skin and split wide open when Yuri took his hand away. Beneath the pooling blood, Alister glimpsed a different kind of flesh. His head felt light as he stared at it, so he looked at Yuri’s face instead. The man was as unsteady as Lark.

“Mirielle…” His voice shook, and he cleared his throat.

She glanced up from the corner. “What?”

Alister forced the fear out of his voice. “I need you to heal Yuri.”

Mirielle craned her neck and widened her eyes at Yuri’s injury. “Wrap it up, quickly. I—I can’t touch candra anymore. Not after the illusions.”

“Move over, would you?” Ren pushed her hands out of the way. “Go and gather some supplies or something.”

Alister suppressed a curse and pressed the cloth to the open wound. Blood spilled over his hands as he held the flesh together and bandaged around Yuri’s side, as Mirielle darted around the room, stuffing her pack full of supplies.

The man groaned and closed his eyes.

Alister glanced up when he could afford it. “Stay with me, Yuri.”

Yuri’s eyelids fluttered. “I’m here.”

“You’re going to make it. For your sons. For Roan and Artur.”

Yuri smiled and breathed a laugh. “My sons. I’ll find them again. Bring them out of this wretched city, one day, and raise them to be good. They needn’t learn to fight, or bow to Baudouin’s will. My sons.”

Alister tied the ends of the cloth tight, and Yuri winced between smiles.

“You’ll see them again. But first, we need to get out of here. I need you to pull all your strength.”

“For them,” Yuri whispered. “I will.”

Footsteps paused outside their door, and the handle jerked. Alister’s head snapped up.

“This door’s jammed,” a muffled voice called.

“Bring it down,” another voice ordered.

The door banged.

“Please tell me you’re nearly done,” Alister hissed at Ren.

The iron clasp shifted when the Defenders slammed the door again, but it held.

Ren twisted her pin, and the cover fell to the floor with a bang. Alister cringed, and sent a desperate prayer to the Divine the noise wouldn’t make it past the door.

Mirielle scrambled into the narrow hole first, her bulging pack in front of her, and her hand grasping Lark’s as she pulled him behind. The pack slid down the sloping tunnel. Ren followed close behind.

Alister glanced behind as the door banged again, and he edged into the tiny space. As he crawled down its slope on his elbows and knees, Yuri followed him and pulled the cover over the opening.

Ren’s voice echoed through the tunnel. “How far is this chute?”

“Not far.” Yuri’s voice wasn’t as faint as it had been. “We should be out within a minute.”

Alister craned his neck to see past Mirielle, Lark, and Ren. Ahead of them glowed a bright circle of light. Nearly there, he told himself.

The sound of the door crashing to the ground resonated through the chute, and footsteps flooded the room they just left.

Alister’s heart hammered as they crawled through the chute, his breath quick from the walls he struggled to fit his shoulders through.

“I heard a noise in here.”

“Check the chute.”

The five of them rushed forwards, their belongings clanging against the metal walls.

The cover to the chute banged as it was forced away, just as Mirielle crawled out into the light, pulling Lark down behind her. The Defender’s voice boomed through.

“They’re here!”

Hands pulled Ren down into the light, and Alister squinted at the brightness. Where are we? He cast his eyes down. Mirielle, Lark, and Ren stood amongst carts of garbage below him.

Metal clattered along the tunnel, and Alister glanced behind. Daggers flew into the chute, seconds apart from each other, and ricocheted off the narrow walls. One of them slid past Alister and dropped into the room where the others were.

Yuri gasped as a dagger sank into his back. Hands grasped Alister’s coat, but he pushed them away.

“No…” He breathed, but Yuri slumped to the floor.

Alister stared up the chute, where more daggers flew towards him, and held Yuri’s head up. The man’s eyelids drooped.

“Stay with me, Yuri,” Alister demanded, his voice shaking. There would be no getting rid of the fear in his voice, now.

“Go,” Yuri whispered. Another dagger pierced his leg, and he groaned. Blood dripped from his back down the floor, and Alister shook his head.

“No. You have to make it, Yuri. You have to see your sons.” Alister edged his legs out of the chute, pulling Yuri from his slumped arms with him.

“Alister, we need to leave!” Ren’s voice screamed behind him, but Alister didn’t let go of Yuri, his eyes scrunched shut.

Yuri’s voice grew faint. “Leave…me…”

A hand grasped Alister’s leg and pulled him down to the ground, in the garbage-covered room. Yuri’s arms hung out of the chute.

“You’re coming with us,” Alister insisted, his eyes stinging as he pushed himself to his feet and held Yuri’s face up.

His eyes half-closed, and stared behind Alister.

“No…”

Hands wrenched Alister away, but he couldn’t leave Yuri’s glazed eyes. “No!”

“He’s gone, Alister!” Ren snapped. “Don’t let his sacrifice go to waste.”

Alister stared at the dead man. The man who was still a father, after all. Who lost everything, only to gain some back only minutes before. The man with two living sons.

Someone yelled in his ear. Alister didn’t care who. “Alister, we need to leave!”

His chest ached as deeply as it had from the turmella, but somewhere inside him, he found the strength to look away from Yuri, to Mirielle, and around the room.

They pulled themselves up to a ledge, struggling to take Lark up.

Light flasks lined the empty corridor, though rough voices echoed through, and a vicious wind bit through his clothes. We’re close to the outside.

“Where are we going, now?” Ren demanded. “Alister!”

Alister shook his head. How had they not thought about this? “I don’t know.”

“The edge.” Lark’s voice was no louder than a whisper. “Get to the edge.”

Ren stared at him for a moment. “That’s a start.” She led them in the direction of the bitter wind.

Defenders rounded the corner behind them.

“Run!”

Alister and Mirielle dragged Lark into a run, and Ren let them pass as she drew out several knives. She looked over her shoulder to throw them at the Defenders.

“By the order of His Majesty—”

Ren’s knife landed in his chest.

Lark managed to run by himself, and Alister led them through Deemstun’s corridor, until finally they emerged into a full-forced wind and black sky.

The air slapped Alister’s face, and mist followed his breath. Snow whirled around them and threatened to push them over with its force. He hadn’t been outside the Mount in over a week. The narrow, snow-covered path they stood on led straight across Mount Era in both directions. Mirielle stood braced against the cliff, her blue eyes wide with fear.

Ren rose her voice above the wind. “Now, what?”

“The Madness,” Lark breathed, his bloodshot eyes cast to the west. The three of them stared in shock at him for a moment.

“Are you insane?” Ren yelled. “You must have been locked up too long, bird man. We can’t go in there!”

Mirielle shot Ren an icy glare, but then followed Lark’s gaze into the blizzard with troubled eyes. Although it didn’t look ominous, a mist clung to those cliffs they had all heard about their entire lives. Not a soul emerged sane from The Madness.

Mirielle’s voice shook. “Nobody’s ever even known their own name after coming back from there.”

Lark drew himself up as best he could. “Not nobody. Trust me. We have to go west. I know the way.”

Mirielle and Alister looked at each other, both pulling their coats tight. Ren’s horrified stare didn’t leave Lark.

“Do you trust me?” He met all of their eyes. Alister squinted into the blizzard, where The Madness lurked. But this was the man who had been everywhere, who seemed to know everything. If anybody could lead them through The Madness…

“I trust you.” Mirielle’s soft voice was barely audible above the roar of the wind, although lines of worry creased her forehead.

Alister nodded in agreement. “I trust you.”

Ren twisted her head around to the Defenders behind them, and then to the east, where the path disappeared into the distance.

“I guess I have no choice!” She shouted over the wind and snow.

The four of them ran down the path, surrounded by darkness and blizzard, the edge of the Union drawing closer with every step.