The sunrise seemed to tint everything with a red hue as Connor and the small contingent of guards plodded down the road. They all seemed significantly better rested than the exhausted carpenter, better adjusted to life on the road. Even the songbirds flitting about couldn’t lift the young man’s spirits.
The thin forest soon gave way to an extensive rolling grassland, the long blades of grass waving about in the wind like they were waving to the travellers. The occasional shuffling in the grass indicated snakes or rodents moving around in the growth, but Connor was too sore and tired to care. The rocking of the horse back and forth hurt his back and his legs were getting sore. He wished the sky was cloudy so at least the sky would feel as terrible as he did.
He closed his eyes to give them a rest from squinting and tried to remember the reason he was doing this. He wished Irene was there. She would find a way to lift his spirits.
Connor was so lost in his thoughts, he nearly missed the order one of the guards gave to halt.
His eyes flew open as he pulled on the reins and the trained horse stopped in it’s tracks, shuffling slightly. Connor looked over questioningly at Finn, the young guard who had found him in the tavern several nights ago. “Are we nearly there?” he whispered, but the guard’s eyes were focused at a bundle of black just off the road.
The carpenter shielded his eyes with one hand and strained forward, trying to get a better look, but the glaring sun and his position on the road made it difficult to make out details. The guard who had first spotted it was already dismounting, passing his reins over to the one beside him.
Finn practically threw his reins at the surprised Connor and hopped down from his horse, rushing over to inspect. Together, the two guards grabbed the black mass and rolled it over, revealing it’s true nature.
“It’s a body…”
Connor’s heart leapt into his throat. “A body? What do you mean ‘it’s a body?’” he asked Finn.
Finn just shook his head and returned his attention back to the corpse they had found.
“A male half-elf,” the first guard announced, “late teens or early twenties. Multiple stab wounds.”
“Male half-elf?” the second guard chimed in as he carefully dismounted, still holding both reins. “Isn’t that one of our marks?”
“Looks like it,” the first guard confirmed, and Connor hurriedly dismounted. His legs felt like rubber.
“I thought the last report said they were heading North,” the second guard asked.
Finn walked back to the road and looked around, standing on his tiptoes to see further. “If he’s here, it must mean the other one isn’t far.”
“The half-elf must have slowed him down.”
“Wait,” Connor interjected, finally finding his voice. “you mean that he killed him?”
Finn gave the carpenter a pitying look. “Looks like it.”
“Half-elf’s this side of the world are rare,” the first guard confirmed. “One that matches this description is even rarer.”
“But if it is… him… who did it,” Connor asked tentatively, “then where is he now?”
The second guard mounted his horse. “He couldn’t have gone far.”
Finn started to mount up too, but the first guard stopped him. “You two stay here. We’ll do a quick perimeter search and return back.”
Finn looked at him aghast. “Why can’t I go looking with you?”
“Someone has to stay here with the carpenter,” the guard explained, taking his horse’s reins back from the second guard as he climbed into the saddle.
Connor didn’t even notice Finn’s grumbling or the sound of the horses galloping away in different directions. He had finally caught a glimpse of the young man’s body sprawled out in the grass.
The carpenter had seen a body once before when he was younger – an older resident of the town had passed away in her sleep and he had helped with her burial – but he was not prepared for this. Crusted blood hid the greyish pallor of his skin, and his clouded eyes stared wide in horror and disbelief. The youth and vitality he should have showed was just gone, drained out as if the bloodied grass around him had seeped his life energy. He did not look peaceful at all; rather, he looked to be in so much pain and despair that Connor had to turn away in revulsion. And the smell...
Finn noticed the carpenter’s sudden spin away from the corpse, leaning over with his hands on his knees retching. He rushed over to him, leading him away back onto the roadway and away from their gruesome discovery. “First time seeing a body?” Finn asked, grabbing his horses’ reigns as he helped the disgusted man sit down.
Connor shook his head. “Not the first time,” he mumbled, gratefully accepting the waterskin Finn offered.
“I doubt it’ll be your last either.”
Something about the younger man’s ominous tone made Connor shudder. He looked around nervously, expecting to find the murderer crouched in the long grass waiting for a chance to strike.
“Do you think he’s still nearby?” he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.
Finn sat down beside him on the road. “I doubt it,” he admitted, “but I hope he is.”
Connor took another long swig from the waterskin, swishing the cool liquid around his mouth. One of the horses nickered restlessly nearby as the rest wandered off the trail to graze.
“I hope he isn’t,” Connor admitted as he handed the waterskin back to Finn. “I hope I never see him again.”
Finn cocked his head. “You’re really scared of him, huh?”
“And you’re not?” Connor replied, gesturing at the corpse nearby. “That could be you.”
“What did he do to you?”
The carpenter turned so he could face the young guard squarely, giving him a questioning look.
Finn shrugged. “Why are you so afraid of him? He’s just a man.”
“He might be to you, but to me…”
Finn craned forward, watching the carpenter wring his hands and straining to hear the words pass the lump in his throat.
“… Did you ever hear the story about the trickster demon, Absolth?”
Finn shook his head, and Connor continued.
“It’s a story my Mom told me. Absolth heard about a human whose skin was protected by magical wards that would drive a demon away if one touched him. The demon wanted to prove to the other demons that no wards were powerful enough to stop him and that he could kill him anyway.
“One day when the man was out shopping in the market, Absolth disguised himself as an apple and sat on top of a fresh pile of fruit. The man saw the gorgeous apple and bought it, eating it as he finished his shopping. And so the demon went inside him, bypassing the wards covering the man’s skin and killing him from the inside out.”
Finn waited patiently for the story’s end, hooked on the tradesman’s words.
“When my Mom told me that story, I thought it was silly. My dad was a proud Northerner. He taught me that demons and gods didn’t exist. But then, Kieran…”
Connor took a ragged breath and he closed his eyes, slumping his shoulders. “I thought he was a demon. Or possessed by one.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me,” Finn joked. “We thought the half-elf was his friend, but then to do this?”
“He doesn’t feel those emotions,” Connor shook his head. “Never has. I mean, he even killed his own parents.”
“Did he just snap one day?” Finn asked. “Did he wake up one day and say ‘I’m going to kill my family’ or were there signs?”
Connor chuckled and shrugged. “Like I told everyone at the time, he wasn’t exactly a happy kid, but I never thought…”
Finn moved to put a hand on the carpenter’s shoulder, but Connor stood up suddenly, moving agitatedly.
With a pitying smile, Finn stood up too. “I feel like we should give the half-elf a proper burial. Do you want to help?”
Connor stayed staring down at the ground silent and just nodded.
Finn walked over to where the body lay, crossing his arms pensively. “I don't think the Elves bury their dead."
Connor shrugged. "I have no idea," he said quietly, still looking down at the ground, avoiding looking at the half-elf's body.
He heard Finn sidle up to him. "He'll pay for what he's done. I promise."
Connor felt tears welling up in his eyes and shook his head, pushing them back down again. He refused to cry in front of the guard.
Finn patted him on the back and walked over to one of the horses, rustling in it's saddlebag. "He's half human. Maybe he won't mind if we bury him," he reasoned, pulling out a small spade. "It'll take forever to dig a grave with this little thing, though."
Wordlessly, Connor walked over and plucked the spade from the guard's hand, continuing past him into the tall grass. He had to cover his nose and mouth as he passed the body, not even willing to look at it. Kneeling down, the carpenter started digging.
"Want to see if I can find another one?" Finn asked, but Connor shook his head.
Finn sat back down on the road, silently watching as the blond man lost distracted himself with the toil of physical labour. "You know you're safe with us, right? Demon or not?"
Connor simply shook his head and kept digging, scraping with the tiny tool at the damp soil. The wind shifted direction, bringing the smell of the corpse wafting back to him as if warning him where this journey was headed.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
