THE SEEKER

A solitary figure was sitting beside the fireplace in a dimly lit, secluded corner of a small inn. After pulling the deep hood further down over his face, his hands folded into one another within the wide sleeves of his cloak. From inside his hood, his grey eyes narrowed as he stared into the fireplace. Wood snapped and popped inside the stone hearth as the orange flames danced about. As he untucked his hands, he looked up and stroked his chin. It had been several years since his friend passed away, and yet the horrible memory of his friend’s death still haunted him. He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment.

“Would you like something to drink?” A maid’s voice called over his shoulder.

The figure shook his head from side to side, folding his hands into one another within the sleeves of his cloak again as he slowly opened his eyes and gazed into the fireplace.

“Are you well?” The maiden asked.

The figure nodded and turned towards a small-paned glass window. Floorboards creaked behind him as the maiden left. His eyes narrowed, watching as two local men in travel cloaks hobbled towards the inn through the storm from across the street. The man on the left had the same perfect likeness as his friend. “It can’t be.”

“Dain, it’s your turn to buy a round.”

“No, it’s not Fin. I bought the last one.” Dain playfully pushed Fin towards the doorway.

“Fine, I’ll buy this round, even though it is your round.” Fin joked and walked through the doorway, followed by Dain.

“I’ll find us a table while you get the drinks in.” Dain thoroughly looked around the room, searching for somewhere to sit. As he made his way across the room and sat down at a small table, he saw someone sitting alone in the corner.

“Do you remember the Order?” Fin asked as he sat down.

“No. Why?” Dain asked curiously.

“Rumour has it that one of their own betrayed them?”

“Why?” Dain leaned in and tilted his head aside. “Who was after them?”

Fin shrugged and looked around the room to make sure that nobody was eavesdropping on their conversation. As he turned towards Dain, noticing that the person in the corner was looking in their direction. “I think we’re being watched.”

“By the person in the corner?”

Fin nodded and watched as a young maiden approached them with a couple of pewter tankards in her hands, and as she put them down, Fin leaned in. “Do you know who the person is in the corner?”

The maiden shrugged. “I think he’s a monk.”

“No, he’s not a monk.” Dain stared at the person in the corner as he rubbed his chin.

“How do you know?” Fin asked.

“I just know.” Dain crossed his arms, watching as the hooded person got up and left the inn through the side door. As he reached for the tankard, the sound of hooves on the wet cobbles drew his attention. He turned towards the window and peered outside, watching as a black horse went past. Sat upon its back silhouetting against a moonlit sky was a person draped in a long black hooded robe so that only his tapered sabatons in the high stirrups were showing.

The rider stopped; looked back over his shoulder at the inn and climbed down off his black horse, making his way towards the inn, dragging his black sabatons across the cobbles. As he stopped outside the inn, he peered inside, searching for his target, who was hiding amongst the locals.

“What do you want?” A ranger demanded as he approached the rider.

The rider turned towards the ranger, and from within the shadow of his black hood, he stared at Ranger without replying and reached behind his back. The tapered fingers of his gauntlet curled around the black leather hilt.

Dain’s eyes widened with shock, watching as the black rider spun around and blocked an arrow with the flattened edge of his hand-and-a-half sword before looking in his direction. Even though he couldn’t see the rider’s face, he could feel its gaze upon him, and why did he feel like he was in danger? An anguished yell rang in his ears. Like a puppet after its strings were cut, the ranger’s lifeless body hit the floor with a loud thud and a pool of crimson gathered underneath his body. Dain stared at the ranger’s motionless body. Screams of panic and fear echoed in his ears as the locals fled through the side door to escape from the attacker.

“Dain, we have to go.” Fin shouted as he ran through the side door, looking back over his shoulder at his friend. “What are you waiting for?”

Dain stared at the rider before he fled through the side door into a gloomy alleyway, looking back over his shoulder to make sure that the rider wasn’t following him. As he turned around, he ran into the hooded figure he saw earlier. I

“You need to leave this place at once.” The person in the brown hooded cloak said.

“Why? And who was that person?” Dain asked.

“He’s a seeker.” The hooded figure replied, looking over Dain’s shoulder. “Use the side alleys to escape from the village.”

“Who are you?” Dain demanded.

The hooded figure pushed Dain aside and made his way down the alley towards the main street, and as he was about to walk around the corner, he stopped and looked back across his shoulder at Dain. “You remind me of your father.”