King of Dust

Chapter 23

Klarkloff led us through town and to the edge of the woods where we had begun. He looked around the scene, recalling the night of the fight, and then pointed into the woods. "This way!"

Astrid took my hand to look at the burn. "Are you doing okay, Darius?"

"I'm fine," I replied.

I wasn't fine. The burns from sunlight were undoubtedly some of the most painful things anyone could experience. My skin blistered at the spot that the sunlight had touched, and I moved my hand behind my cloak as we stepped into the woods. Astrid eyed me as I moved, raising an eyebrow. "Can I see it?" she asked.

"If you insist."

I showed her my hand, and she gasped. "Oh, Darius. That looks really bad. Can I help?"

"If you'd like."

Astrid put her hands over mine and muttered a prayer as we walked, her hands lighting up with beautiful, cool light. Despite my undead nature, her magick worked. Fortunately, it seemed her god thought me worth saving. I did not believe in the gods, but maybe... maybe they believed in me. It soothed my burns and nearly reduced the scars to nothing. Some bits were still quite raw, but for the most part, she had healed me.

"Thank you," I said.

"You know, you don't have to pretend that you're fine all the time. Let me know if you're hurting. You have friends who want to help you now."

"Friends?"

"At least," she stammered, "I'd like to think I'm your friend."

A smile spilled across my face as we dodged patches of sunlight breaking through trees. Yra pulled a muscle rolling his eyes and crunched sticks as we trekked into the unknown. Klarkloff followed a trail, then turned, and then turned again until we were right back where we started.

"Klarkloff lost," he announced.

"Great," Yra scoffed. "So, now what?"

"You lost the trail?" Urien asked.

Klarkloff replied with a nod, and then seemed to get an idea. From his loincloth – though I'm not sure how and positive I don't want to ask – Klarkloff pulled a drum. He banged it as loudly as he could with nearby branches, rocks, anything he could get ahold of, and screamed into the woods.

"HEY PERSON COME OUT!"

"Sh! Hush!" Urien grabbed Klarkloff and covered his mouth. "Shush."

Klarkloff's eyebrows drooped in a frown.

"Thank you for leading us this far. I will arrange for Darius to send his men to the store when they're ready to escort you out."

Urien cautiously put Klarkloff on the ground, and the gnome crossed his arms, tossing his sticks to the forest floor. "Everybody critic."

We watched as Klarkloff stomped off into the woods, leaving us in a clearing alone.

"Now what?" Yra asked.

Astrid looked to the ground, taking in her surroundings, and stopped by a bush whose branches had been broken. "Someone's been through here."

"How can you tell?"

"These branches are broken, but don't connect to a deer trail. My father used to take my brothers and I hunting when he was still around."

"Oh, neat."

"Let's follow it," Urien suggested. "See where it leads."

The four of us crept through the woods – or, I should say, the three of us because Yra couldn't really give a damn about anyone or anything – and we followed what looked to me like a deer trail farther and farther into the woods. After a good bit of walking, we hit the jackpot. Tucked away in the woods was a tent, sturdily pitched, and a smoldering fire. Whoever was there had just left, and their camp had been cleaned and packed away for the day. My ears pricked up, picking out any noise from the rustling of leaves and the soft pitter-patter of the padded feet of animals. I took in one, slow, steady breath in to smell anything on the wind, but whoever had been there was long gone.

"They're not here," I said and stood up tall in the woods.

"Are you sure?" Urien asked, not willing to give up his position.

"Positive. I can smell it."

The four of us emerged from the trees and began poking around camp, looking for anything that we could find that may give us clues. I realized this moment was crucial for us. The people of Starkovia did not trust me. They knew I was a vampire, that I had made other vampires and that those vampires had disobeyed me and made other vampires. Now, was I responsible? Yes? In a way – oh, don't look at me like that. Vampirism is like a disease. I couldn't control the others that I had turned as much as you can control someone sneezing without covering their nose with their elbow. Do I regret it? Certainly, which was why this was so important.

If we could find this assassin and save Nessden, maybe, just maybe, I had a chance at redeeming myself in their eyes. I didn't expect them to trust me, but I at least could get them to stop trying to burn me alive. We moved about the camp, our eyes combing for anything of value. I was careful to touch as little as possible as I stepped into the assassin's tent, my eyes peeled for anything suspicious. A small chest lay by the bed, things spilling out from its insides as if it were hastily opened and shut.

I glided toward the chest, eager to see its contents in full, and opened it without disturbing too much inside. The chest was filled with letters, passports, travel documents, and other things. Just by looking at the papers present, it was obvious that this assassin had many names and identities, used to disguise them across various borders. On the floor, tucked underneath a disturbed bed roll, lay an envelope that had jumped from the chest, disturbed by the gust of wind that blew from the trunk slamming closed. I slid the envelope out with the tips of my fingers and saw that it had no addressee. The paper crinkled under my touch as I opened the letter.

V,

Attached are the names, addresses, and schedules of all the intended targets. The entire town is filled with highly suspicious supernaturalists, so if you can make the murders gruesome, do. It'll keep them off your scent. I will pay you in installments as I see the murders completed.

Andrei

"Urien!" I called as I held up the letter. "I found something!"

Urien stepped to my side, a few of his own documents in his hand, and held up the letter to the light. His eyes darted over it as he took in the information. "This is good. See if we can find a ledger or something, anything that would point us in the right direction."

"I found this," Yra added. "What do you think?"

He held up a catalogue for some kind of store. When he handed it to Urien, we both looked it over with curiosity. The catalogue belonged to a trapping and furs store in Nessden.

"You're right, this is a little weird," Urien added. "I'm not sure why you'd filch a catalogue from a store unless you were going to use it as kindling. Is this store still open?"

"We'll have to find out."

"I found this," Urien added. He showed us a flyer advertising services at the local church.

"Um... fellas?" Astrid's voice rang out clear in the field.

She approached us holding a wanted poster. Someone's illustration had been plastered on its surface, though I did not recognize who it was until she drew closer. Urien's face, horns and all, had been perfectly transferred to the paper. A four hundred gold reward was listed on the sheet and Urien's face scrunched. "Oh... that's – um – that's strange."

"What did you do?" Yra asked as he looked the paper over. "They totally butchered your likeness."

"Nothing. I've been working for my church, killing undead, and saving lives. Nothing more."

"Somebody hates you."

"We should go," I said, standing. I smelled something on the wind, someone new, and I felt unsafe about staying. "Someone may be approaching."

"Let's take these and go. We've seen enough," Urien agreed. "Back to camp."

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