The Whitefang

It was always crowded on Friday evenings at the Dartling Deer. Sounds of drunken men talking and laughing filled the air, complemented by the smell of lukewarm beer. The perfect time, because people would pay less attention to the little group at a table in the furthest corner of the inn.

Most of the inn was lit by a fire near the bar, but on this table there was only a small lantern, giving off a dim light.

“It was 50 years ago. I was still a teenager back then.” He had a thick country-side accent.

The other two men rolled their eyes. Both of them were already in their middle ages, but they still had broad shoulders and large arms. Greasy dark hair populated their heads, but the right man had less of it, sporting deep inlets on both sides on his head. The left one on the other hand, had a crooked nose.

“C’mon Ashki. We’ve heard that story a thousand times and everyone knows it’s bullshit”, the left man said.

“Well, the stranger asked for it.” He shrugged.

“The whitefang asked for facts, not fairytales”, the right man answered.

“Shut it. Let the old man speak.”

The young woman sat up straight and spoke with determination. It was almost scary, but she knew she sounded a lot more confident than she actually was.

Her spotless, and apart from the green accents, all white cloak and uniform made her stand out among the general public of Mashir. A broche in the shape of a shield with a picture of a green snake decorated the left side of her chest. She wore her hair in a braid that rested on her shoulder.

More than one pair of eyes in the tavern had looked at her when she entered. [She had only noticed that she had been holding her breath when she was almost at the table.] She was a whitefang and no-one could mistake her for anything else. That was her least favourite part of her job. Everyone recognised her. Everyone had an opinion about her. Well, not specifically her; the whitefang, but to the people she was nothing more than that: a government’s snake.

Most people had wondered what she was doing in the inn. People had seen her around town, but not many had talked to her. Most wondered what a whitefang was doing here at all, but when they had seen where she was going, everyone assumed why she was talking to Ashki; he had a strange tale and, since a year or two, the whitefang were very interested in that. Unsavoury business, most thought. Still, everyone wanted to know more, but no-one dared to eavesdrop on someone trained to kill, so they pretended she wasn’t there and continued disappointing their wives.

“Well alright, as I said, this happened 50 years ago, before the white tower fell. I was hunting on the east side of the vulcano, because most others stay on the west side. It was already late and I could see the moon in the sky. And that’s when I saw it. A white, glowing deer I saw. I had never seen anything like it. It didn’t make a sound and no trail either.” Ashki stopped for a moment and raised an eyebrow. “I believe I saw an Arkai!”

“Ah, sure. There we have it.” The left man threw his hands in the air and rolled with his eyes again. “Of course, an arkai. Why would a God’s servant show himself to a simple hunter like you?”

Ashki wanted to say something back, but the woman was quicker. “Shush you!” She looked at the man. Why did he have to insist on taking his children with him?, she thought. She fiddled with her thumbs. [Interrogating one guy already caused her enough stress, let alone three.] Besides, I know these types of people won’t keep their mouths shut, and if there’s anything I don’t need right now, it’s more stupid rumours. She knew the whitefang already didn’t have such a good reputation in these parts.

She redirected her attention back to Ashki. “Tell me more about this arkai you saw.”

“Uhm, yeah, right. So, I didn’t stick around of course. I was scared to death, let me tell you.”

“Do you know why the arkai showed itself to you?“, she suddenly asked.

“Oh uh. Well, I’m not really sure”, the old man answered.

The woman was halfway through standing up already and was about to say something, but she was cut off.

“Wait, there’s more. I’m not done yet. Please, sit down.”

“Well?“, She said as she sat back down and made a waving hand motion.

“Well, I came back the next evening. I wanted to get another glimpse of it, because nobody believed me.” Ashki glared at the man on his left from under his eyebrow. “They still don’t.”

“Anyway, it was there that evening and the day after that too, but on that third evening, I decided to follow it, so got close and then something strange happened. When I came close, the deer turned around, and it looked like it was going to sprint away, but then it was suddenly gone! Just, poof, like that. As if it was never there in the first place. But then I saw the light again. A bit further in front of me; like 100 meters or so. I was just standing there, looking at me. So I get close again, and it just happens again! That kinda kept going for a while. It led me out of the forest, to an open field.

After some time a thick fog set up and I couldn’t see much beyond the length of my arm other than the faint light of the arkai in the distance. Although I couldn’t see much, I could’ve sworn that I wasn’t on the vulcano anymore.

You see, the ground on and around the volcano is rich soil covered with all kinds of herbs, plants, bushes and other greenery, but when I walked there, I saw that the ground was bare and sandy. On top of that, the nightly sounds had also disappeared. There were no crickets, the owls had stopped hooting and even the sound of trees catching wind was gone.

At this point I had no idea how to get back, so I kept going, until…”

Ashki stopped.

“Until what?”, the woman asked.

“Until, out of nowhere, a broken stone arch doomed up in front of me. The fog didn’t come near the arch, so it was like a wall of fog surrounded me. On both sides of the archway were huge stone statues of men, but the left one was missing a head. instead of on its neck, it lay on the ground near the base of the arch. Both of the statues wore crowns and scale armour, but the left one held a sword and a map and the right one a book and a torch. They held the sword and the torch out in front of them high above me.”

“I ran! As fast as I could run. I wasn’t going to stay there any longer than I needed to be. It was like I flew, because the way there took me at least half an hour, but I was back in the forest in a matter of seconds. And at the same spot that I saw the deer the first time that evening. After that, I never saw the deer again. No matter how hard I look.”

The woman sighed. She stood up and slid three coins over the table as she did.

“As promised”, she said. “You didn’t come very far though. I was expecting you to get at least to the chapel.” She suddenly stopped. The two sons were too captivated by the gold to notice anything, but Ashki not.

“Huh? What do you mean not very far? Were you expecting something? You know what was beyond there or something?”

Shit. Shit Shit. I shouldn’t have said that.

“That’s none of your business. What did you say your surname was?“, She said, while she felt her hands shivering.

“Uuhm. Halvorsen. But, why? What? Huh? I don’t understand... Miss? Where are you going?”

“Thank you for your cooperation”, she said, without looking back.

Conversations stopped and people looked at her as she walked towards the door. Curious faces, cautious faces.

She sighed as she closed the door behind her.

The night was chilly, but she liked that. Much better than that stuffy warmth. She never liked being the centre of attention. It’s not what she became a whitefang for, but I guess it’s part of the job. She sighed again. It was bad luck that she was the only one in the area, so she couldn’t ask Lilia to do the job when she heard that fisherman talk about Ashki’s story. She’s much better with people. She wouldn’t have fucked up, she thought.

I’m an idiot, she thought, as if admitting that to herself. I’m in trouble. There sure as hell are going to be rumours now and I’m going to hear about it from the captain, aren’t I. I haven’t even been deployed for two months yet and I’m already making big mistakes. I’m fucking stupid. Why did I say that? [People aren’t supposed to know anything about it. Otherwise they could use the power for themselves and having a bunch of ultra-powerful warriors running around will spread chaos through the land. Not only that, but they could pose a threat to the emperor.]

She stood there, cursing herself for another minute, before she stopped herself: Okay, calm down. You still have a report to make. Maybe you can hide this little thing. Blame the rumours on something else, she thought to herself, but she knew that they would see through her lies.

She turned left on the only paved street in the village. The street was empty, apart from a man in tattered clothing sleeping on an old rug between two of the small wooden houses. There were no lanterns. Only the moon and a few small flickering lights coming from the houses illuminated her path.

She looked at the beggar. Was the man actually sleeping? She walked a little bit further and turned into a small dirt path on the left side of the street. She knew the path led into the forest about two kilometer away from here, but from where she stood, she could only see the small back gardens of the houses on either side, before the path took a left turn and disappeared behind another building.

She looked around again. Then, she snapped her fingers. Her uniform was not white anymore, but a dark shade of blue-ish grey, that seemed to blend with the shadows.

No-one is looking. Good.

She took a small brass disc out of her pocket. It looked pretty much like a pocket watch; it had a small lid and a chain to attach it to your clothes and everything. But when she opened it, there was no clock-face or hands, but instead there were four metal buttons near the hinge and a diamond shaped socket in the middle. Near the left edge, there was a tiny light bulb made of red stained glass. [The mechanism wasn’t covered, so you could see delicate gears and tiny springs underneath the interface.]

She reached into her pocket again and fished a small white crystal out. It had [name of city] engraved into one of its sides. when she put the crystal into the socket, the crystal began to glow a dim blue light. She held the device closer to her face and pressed and held the leftmost button, which was labeled ‘record’. The light turned on and gave her skin a red hue.

She talked softly. “Hello, Astra featherward here. I just finished interrogating Ashki Halvorsen. It seems the rumour was true. At least, according to himself. He didn’t make it very far. He says that he ran away as soon as he saw the arch, so he did not receive any explanation nor any powers. He doesn’t seem to have a clue about why the arkai came to him either. The other villagers don’t seem to believe him. I will send you a written report as soon as I get home and I will keep an eye on him and his family while I wait for a response. You will hear from me.”

She released the record button and then pressed the rightmost one, labeled ‘send’. The red light turned off. She took the crystal out of the socket and put it back in her pocket.

She didn’t take her hand out, though. She stared past the device for a second. A moment went by without realising. Then, she decided to take her hand out again. It held another crystal. A slightly purple one this time. She moved her hand more slowly than before and delicately put it in the socket. She softly stroked the engraving with her thumb: “Lilia”. She pressed record.

“Hey”, she began, but then paused. “I miss you.”

She took a breath before she continued. “I had to interrogate a man today. First time for real I think.” She attempted a short chuckle, but it didn’t feel right, so she quickly stopped.

“I… think I did okay? I fucked up at the end… I interrogated him, because I found out he has the blood of the old kings. He doesn’t know anything about it, luckily’. He told me about when the arkai came to lead him to the garden of kings, but he ran after seeing the arch. And then…”

Her voice raised in pitch and she started to breath a bit irregularly. ”Then I said that he didn’t get very far... I said” She had to draw a deep breath. “I said something about the chapel… He asked me if I knew more. I think- No… I’m sure that he knows that I know more. And he’s going to tell everyone.”

She paused and tried to control her breath. She looked around to see if someone could hear her. Still no-one. She was alone.

“If the captain finds out.” There was a lump in her throat. She swallowed. ”If he finds out… I- I’m dead. I’m going to get fired.” A single tear flowed down her cheek. “What then? What do I do? I can’t go back to my parents. I haven’t spoken to them since…” More tears started rolling from the thought of her parents. They glinstered in the red glow. “Since I ran… They will never accept me back! They see me as a disgrace.” She said those last words softly.

She started sobbing. Tears flowed down her cheek like rivers and her breath was as unpredictable as the wind. After more than a minute she released the record button and lowered her hands, only to raise them again to cover her face.

She was still completely alone. Two months and a week now. There was no-one to talk to, no-one that understood her and she was so, so far away from her. She had bottled up her emotions. She hadn’t allowed herself to feel or to even think about feeling. Just focus on the task at hand, she had thought. Even though there wasn’t much to do, she made things to do. The first few weeks it was investigating the town, memorizing the buildings and the streets, checking the surroundings, researching it’s people, listening to rumours and learning what little history there was. She wrote down everything when she got home. Then, when there wasn’t anything new to learn, she began training: shooting, sneaking and even carpeting at some point. She tried to fill the emptiness inside her, but nothing worked.

The mistake that she made was the last drop that caused the dam that she built to breach and she was washed away by a wave.

Stop. Stop, you idiot. You can’t cry here. Not now. People will hear me. Astra hit herself on the side of her head. Once. Twice. She forced herself to draw deep breaths, like a bellow, and after a moment, it worked. The crying stopped.

She panted. She skittishly looked around her. The path was still empty. The street too. she could still hear the periodical laughter coming from the inn. It was getting late. People will be going home soon now.

She turned and started walking. Her shoulders were still hanging and she looked down to the ground, her irregular breathing interrupted by deep breaths. She still had the device in her hand. She looked at it. The purple crystal was still in there. She lifted it to take it out with her other hand, but she stopped. I didn’t finish the message, did I. She doubted. I dont have to send it. She probably has her own problems, she probably doesn’t have time for me. I don’t want her to worry about me.

She turned the last corner and left the village. She was now surrounded by a field, with the forest not far behind that.

But last time she said that I should tell her when… She didn’t know what to call it. I don’t want to be alone. I just wish she was here.

She looked at the device again. She slowly moved her hand. First toward the crystal, but then in another direction. She pressed send. Her hand lingered above the device a little longer. A moment of hesitation. Then she pressed the record button again.

She didn’t know what to say, or rather, she didn’t know how to say it, but finally, she spoke.

“Lilia… I’m sorry. Sorry for that last message. I don’t know what happened.” She wasn’t sobbing anymore, but her voice was still shaky.

“I just… I made a mistake in the interrogation and” She paused

“I’m stupid… I shouldn’t have made that mistake, but… I wasn’t supposed to cry. I don’t even know why. It just happened. I was- I am afraid.”

There was a moment of silence.

“There are many things that I don’t like about being here.”

She turned her head away from the device to look ahead, and then up.

“The people look at me like I’m insulting them and I don’t know if the things I do are the right things to do. I have no idea if I’m even qualified to do this job, to be honest.” She looked ahead again. “But, what I hate the most about this place, is that you’re not here. Lilia, I miss you. I’ve been here for a while now and I’ve noticed that-” She stopped again, wondering if she should finish that sentence. “yeah.. I just miss you”

She released the record button and pressed send. She looked at the device a little longer; at the crystal with her name on it. Then she took the crystal out and put it back in her pouch and the device in her pocket. She looked at the path, following it with her eyes to the forest. She realized she had been walking very slowly this whole time and quickened her step.

[Even though it was spring, the forest felt like autumn. The light rain from earlier today made the ground damp, and the leaf roof prevented it from evaporating. Around her legs swirled a thick layer of fog as she walked. A few crickets player their song, only disrupted by the intermittent cry of an owl. Even the smell reminded her of autumn. It consoled her. It reminded her of Lilia’s brown hair and of her eyes, which were even browner. It was a warm colour that would calm her down, comfort her, whenever she looked at her. It was conflicting, though. The forest calmed her, but it was always so empty. She was the only one there. Left alone with her thoughts. Walking there was like walking through her own heart. It was just as lonely.

She got to a small wooden cabin, only a single story tall and barely twice the size of her room at the academy, which didn’t have a kitchen or a living room. The cabin was L-shaped and had a wooden veranda on the front and on the back was a small extended portion of the roof, under which a stack of wood, about half the size of the building, was stored.

She stepped on the deck. A few planks creaked as she walked to the door. She took out a single key and fiddled with the lock. It was hard to see, since the moon was on the other side of the house, but eventually she heard a click. She lowered the handle and threw her shoulders against the smooth-sanded wood. It made rough noises as it scraped against the frame with each push. She let out a groan when the door suddenly swept open.

“Stupid bloody door”, she softly said to herself as she sighed.]

Maybe end of chapter one?