The Second Coming
Chapter 7

Lia walked in what she believed was the direction of the smalltown. During the journey her thoughtswere dark: she first remembered what she had lost and then considered why ithad happened to her. Francis and Natalyawere good, loving people, and they didn’t deserve to die. Lia’s wondered if it was her fault: wasFrancisca giving her what she wanted? All she had thought about for months was leaving Crossmoor, and now shehad her wish.

It took her less time that she anticipated to catch sight of thetrading road, and she looked nervously around for a sign of the caravan. When she reached the road, she glanced eastand immediately cursed Francisca for her misfortune. There, in the distance, was the hill wherethe small town was located: she had walked too far. Lia surmised it would probably take her untilnightfall to get close to the small town, and days of walking to reachCrossmoor, if she reached her home at all. Despair washed over her, and Lia slumped down to the ground andwept. At that point she didn’t care whofound her.

*

The sun was setting when Rastlin stood over Goadsby’s body and waitedpatiently for Franklinto search the area.

Franklin finally returned and was shaking his head. “The girl was thrown over there. The grass is flatter than everywhere else.”He pointed to a spot of soft grass.

Rastlin responded. “Where didshe go? Were they here?”

Franklin shook his head again. “There are not a great deal of horse-printsin the area, so I would guess that the girl left under her own power, either onGoadsby’s horse or on foot.”

Rastlin muttered something under his breath. “Which means she is mostlikely out of our reach, for the time being at least.”

Franklin studied the other man’s face intently. “She is bound to go back to Crossmoor. If we move now, we can be on the trading roadin less than an hour. She is no masterof horses, and we will soon catch her.”

Rastlin’s face was a mystery. “Iam not so sure of that.”

Franklin looked puzzled. “Where else would she go?”

“There is more to that girl than meets the eye. I do not wish to risk going to Crossmoor ifshe will not be there when we arrive.”

The expression on Franklin’sface was incredulous. “So what on Eurezaare we going to do? Close our eyes andhope Revan gives us a vision?” His voice dripped with sarcasm.

Rastlin laughed. “My dear Franklin, sometimes yousurprise me. A vision is exactly whatwe need.”

*

Lia could just make out some of the buildings ahead when she saw fourmounted riders on the horizon, just visible in the dim light. She wasn’t sure if the riders saw her too,but they would have soon enough unless she concealed herself. Lia paused for a few moments and wonderedwhat it was about the description of the guards that forced Rastlin to takedrastic measures. Should she hide? Lia considered that perhaps the reasonRastlin was so nervous was because he was an evil man, and the caravan wassomething to do with the church of Revan. She was deciding what to do when a manappeared, less than three horse lengths in front of her. Instinctively, Lia reached for the dagger shehad hidden in her bodice, but the man lowered his hands. “I mean you no harm.”His accent was foreign and sounded much like Rastlin’s.

“Wh… who are you?” Lia’s voice was an octave higher than normal.

“I am a scout, travelling ahead of our caravan, checking for danger.”He paused, and attempted a smile. “Donot worry; you are not dangerous to us.”

Lia lowered her hand.

“What are you doing out here on your own?” The man asked.

Lia lied. “I live in the town upahead. I was out for a walk.”

The man nodded and grinned slightly. “I will walk you back, then, my pretty. You never know who you will run into out here.”

Lia inclined her head. “As youwish.” She moved briskly in thedirection of the town, and hoped to get past the man and his caravan as soon aspossible.

They walked for a short time and Lia did her best to ignore the man’sattempt at conversation. They soonreached a path that led to one side of the town and Lia saw anopportunity. “My home is down here. My thanks for your accompaniment; it was muchappreciated.”

The man smiled. “Why don’t youcome and have a drink at the caravan? Weare due to stop for refreshment shortly.”

Lia shook her head and tried to smile. “You are very kind, but no thank you. I must return to my home or my parents will worry for me.”

The man took a step towards Lia. “I have asked you nicely. Myinvitations are not scorned lightly, you know!”

Lia drew her dagger. “I told youI am not going with you. Now, pleaseleave.”

The man was quick, and within a moment he grabbed her wrist anddisarmed her. His grip was very strong,and Lia cried out in pain. “Leave mealone!”

The man grabbed her by the other hand and held her wriststogether. Lia kicked him in the ankle,which drew a yelp. “If it wasn’t foryour pretty face, wench, I would make you pay for that!” He turned and dragged Lia the few hundredyards to the caravan, where there were at least fifteen others like him. He did not release his grip on her.

“Let me go!” Lia screamed at thetop of her voice.

A man dressed in fine clothing emerged from a caravan that was slightlydifferent in shape than the others, in that it looked more conventional. He moved gracefully over to where she and theguard were standing, ignored the other man and looked Lia up and down. “Well, well, well, it seems we have had alittle fortune this day. She will fetcha significant amount of coin.”

Lia did not understand. “Who areyou? Why are you holding me?”

The man addressed the guard instead. “You will be rewarded for this replace, Remick.” The guard named Remicklooked very pleased with himself. “Puther in one of the cages.”

Lia looked around in panic. Cages? One of the other guards,near one of the other caravans, opened a flap at the front, and revealed barsand a person-sized door with a large lock on. The well-dressed man shouted across at the guards. “No one touches her! The price will drop considerably if the buyersuspects one of you has had her.”

Lia was marched quickly to the caged caravan and she began tohyperventilate. For some reason, it wasRastlin she thought of, and one thing he said in particular. “Remember,follow your heart…” Lia turnedaround, half expecting to see the strange man standing behind her, but insteadshe saw the hill the town was situated on. She became acutely aware of an old tree carcass on the top of it, onethat appeared to have been destroyed in a fire. There was something about that hill and that tree that was familiar,although Lia could not link it to anything in her memory. They reached the caravan and Lia noticed thatthe cage was empty: perhaps the slavers had a particular area in mind to pickup people. Remick gently nudged her inthe ribs. “Move it!”

Lia turned and glared at the man and her expression was full ofhatred. “You are scum! May Revan smite your soul!”

Remick leaned in close. “Thatwas your second mistake today, my beauty. The boss may say that we are not allowed to touch you, but what we dowhen he is asleep, he does not have to know about, does he? And for you, I might consider inviting one ortwo of my friends to help out…”

“No!” Terror gripped Lia and she instinctively pushed Remick backwardsand he fell to the floor in a heap. Twoof the other guards moved to push Lia into the cage, but they stopped when theynoticed two plumes of smoke rising from Remick’s chest. One of the guards went pale and both took aninvoluntary step back. “She is a witch!”

Remick struggled to his feet, and his leather jerkin was stillsmoking. The leader of the group steppedforward. “A witch she may be, but fromthe look of her I suspect she was not aware of it until now.” He paused. “While she will not fetch a price now as a slave, there are people thatbelieve the heart of a witch can be used for a number of reasons.” He looked backto Remick and then to the other two guards. “Bind, gag and blindfold her; thatshould subdue any power she has.”

Lia heard Rastlin’s voice in her head once more. “Remember, follow your heart…” Her chest felt as if it was full of ice andshe felt outrage and frustration for her complete lack of luck. Remick drew near, slightly more reluctantlythan before, but he had a nasty looking knife in his right hand. Instinctively and with reactions much fasterthan she thought he had, Lia grasped Remick’s arm, which began smoking like hischest. When she did not release her griphe screamed in pain, dropped the knife and fell down to his knees. The two other guards screamed and leapttowards her. While maintaining her gripon Remick’s arm, Lia cried out with exertion and both guards were thrownbackwards. They slumped to the ground.

“Stop!” the caravan leader’s voice brought Lia to her senses, and shereleased Remick. He fell to the floorand whimpered like a wounded animal. There was a smell of burning flesh in the air, and Lia noticed thatRemick’s entire right-hand side was scorched and smoking.

Lia did her best to maintain eye contact with the leader and forceddown the bile in her throat. It feltlike she was watching another person. “You will leave our country now. If you do not, I will kill you all.”

The leader nodded slowly. “Asyou wish, witch.” Lia realised thatRemick’s whimpering had ceased.

*

Olbane, Michael and Carly sat around a small campfire on the edge ofthe Great Forest as the night drew in. They had found a small stream and theirhorses had just enjoyed a well-earned drink, while Olbane made the best meal hecould from their meagre travel rations. He had hoped to guide them to the town on the trading road south of theforest, but it must have been further east than he remembered, and they hadbeen forced to stop. Their collectivemood was low and Carly in particular had almost completely retreated intoherself, and Olbane started to wonder if the piece of map he found outsideLia’s home was nothing to do with her abduction. He was considering how to break the silencewhen Michael looked across at him. “Howfar to the village, Olbane?”

Olbane thought for a moment and sighed. “I thought we would have reached it by now. I suspect it is one or two hours’ rideaway. From memory it is called Prost; itis not much more than a hamlet, but hopefully someone there will have seenLia.” He looked at the bandage around Michael’s shoulder. “And I hope there will be a physician.”

Michael tentatively moved his shoulder. “Actually, it feels a lot better. Carly has done an excellent job as usual.” He smiled at her, but sheonly nodded.

Olbane moved closer to the diminutive young woman and put an arm onhers. “Carly, do you wish to talk aboutwhat happened? I am not sure keepingwhatever is troubling you to yourself is a good idea.”

She sighed. “You are right. I am confused by what is happening to me; Ido not know whether He is testing me, or whether I am going mad.”

Olbane offered her some food, which she accepted. “I would say He is helping you, andus, more than anything else. Withoutyour warning of the bandit attack, and then your intervention when the oddswere against us, I do not believe we would be sat here talking now.”

Carly didn’t look convinced. “Then why can’t I connect with him when I want to!” Her voice wasshrill. “A Priestess of Revan does notfeel as helpless as I do! A Priestess ofRevan defines control and calm. I am anervous wreck!”

He put an arm around her shoulder. “You are a remarkable young woman, and someone who has clearly beenchosen for great things. You saved ourlives twice in the space of a few moments today.” He smiled softly. “A nervous wreck you may be, but we will bothbe eternally grateful.”

*

Carly considered Olbane’s words; had she been chosen for greatthings? Priestess Elspeth had said thatvery few Priestesses had ever had any kind of vision, and it appeared Carly hadexperienced two. If she could just connectwith Revan when she wanted to, she was sure she would calm down and stopworrying. She became aware she wasnestled into Olbane, and as he didn’t remove his arm she did not moveaway. Carly had never been close to aman: she was usually standoffish and was not exactly the type that boys hadchased after when she was growing into a young woman. Furthermore, the role of a Priestess when itcame to the opposite sex was unclear to her. Usually the church of Revan had strict rulesfor everything, and while it was extremely unusual for a Priestess to marry itwas not unheard of for them to have liaisons, although these were onlydiscussed in whispered conversations. Not that Carly wanted a liaison, with Olbane or anyone else, but it wascomforting to be held, and she soon relaxed and let herself drift into ThePeace.

Olbane continued to hold Carly and was glad that she had relaxed andwas resting. He finished his meal asbest he could with his one available arm before Michael stored away their gear,which would allow them to leave as early as possible in the morning. After Michael finished his chore he sat downopposite his friend. “Olbane, I must askyou something.”

“Of course, what is on your mind?”

Michael shifted uncomfortably. “What are your motives for being with us? When we reach Frodsby, will you head south toSurian to deal with your other problem, or will you continue after Lia?”

“It is a fair question, Michael. I admit I do wish to travel to Surian to expose Black and shutdown his links to slavery, but that is not my priority. I give you my word I will remain with you andCarly until Lia is safe, but you must understand that I need to go to Surian atsome point.”

Michael nodded, and was apparently satisfied with the response. “Are you in love with Lia?”

The question took Olbane by surprise, and he shook his head. “She is a beautiful and remarkable woman, butI am not in love with her.” He pausedand smiled. “Although that doesn’t meanI won’t fall in love with her when I see her again!”

Michael smiled. “She has thateffect on people, I have found.”

It was Olbane’s turn to ask a question. “Are you in love with her?”

“Up until the night she finally put me out of my misery, I was, which Ibelieve was the night she met you.”

Olbane looked sad. “Did you askher to marry you?”

The other man shook his head. “Not that night; I had been hinting at it for months and was growingmore and more frustrated that she would not commit to anything. She came out and said that night that Ishould give up on her and look for someone else, that she was not ready tosettle down.”

Olbane nodded. “Not everyone wants to settle down and live the samelife as their parents did. You lookedcompletely at home with your father, but somehow I cannot see Lia doing thatfor the rest of her life.”

Michael smiled, although his voice was sad. “I now understand that, but it doesn’t stopme wondering what might have been.”

Olbane wasn’t sure what to say. “Well, I am sure Lia would feel a wholelot better if she knew you were coming to help her, Michael. Hold onto that thought, at least until wereplace her.”

At that Michael looked close to despair. “Do you think we’ll replace her?”

Olbane opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Carlyshifting violently next to him. She satup and her eyes were wide. “Lia!” Carly was hyperventilating, and her face evenwhiter than usual.

Olbane again attempted to respond, but she interrupted him again. “Something terrible has happened; I heard Liascreaming and saw her in peril! We needto leave now.”

Olbane immediately rose to his feet, but Michael interjected. “But we don’t even know where she is!”

Carly also rose. “I do. She was near the trading road at the base ofa hill. I saw enough to realise that wehad not passed the area ourselves, so she must be in front of us.”

Michael nodded, although he did not look convinced. “It will be very dangerous travelling atnight, even on the road. We will have tobe cautious.”

Carly was already at the horses and was un-tethering hers andOlbane’s. “I have a feeling she isn’tthat far from here. I also saw asettlement, and I hope it is the one Olbane believes is ahead of us.”

Olbane and Michael packed their saddlebags, mounted up, and the formeroffered his hand to Carly to help her do the same. The three set off and rode as quickly as theydared and were filled with a hope that didn’t exist moments ago.

*

Lia watched the caravan turn around and leavebefore she continued north towards the small town. She had not wanted to risk turning her backon the foreigners in case they tried to capture her, although in her heart sheknew they were terrified after what she had done to Remick and the otherguards. She walked silently andshivered from time to time from the exhilaration of what had happened. How had that power come from within her? Her terror had triggered some kind ofreaction that had unleashed something horrifying yet strangely compelling. She had killed three men, two from brokenbones and one through a method that made her stomach churn. No matter how many times she considered itand tried to replace other reasons for their deaths, Lia knew it was a powerwithin her that had killed them. Shealso felt a great guilt: if she could stop the slavers, why not her parents’murderers? For the first time since theywere separated Lia felt a compelling need to speak to Rastlin; she wondered ifthe strange man knew something about this.

Lia approached the small town and was very glad to see somethingresembling civilisation after two long days on the road. As she moved closer, she looked up the hillfor another sight of the burned out old tree she thought was familiar earlierthat evening, but it was too dark. Moving on, Lia walked as briskly as she could towards the nearest groupof buildings, which were made of stone. The style of the buildings was typical of Suria, and that made her feelat home instantly. Lia looked up andnoticed a traditional-looking inn sign: The Old Tankard looked like manyof the establishments in Crossmoor and appeared to have lodging upstairs, whichshe hoped was available. It was at thatpoint Lia cursed herself, rather than Francisca: she hadn’t searched Goadsbythoroughly enough before she left him. How was she going to stay the night at an inn without coin? Lia didn’t even have any personal effects shecould trade with but decided to enter the inn anyway; she hoped someone wouldtake pity on her.

The inn was no more than a quarter full, which Lia suspected was linkedto the lack of travellers on the road. Whatever muffled conversation that was going on prior to her entrancestopped as the twenty or so people all turned to look at her; in the lateevening it was not usual in Suria for young women to be frequenting inns. Lia saw a rotund middle-aged woman withgreying hair behind the counter, who had an eyebrow raised when she saw herapproach. “It is not customary for ayoung woman to be in a place like this at this late hour, miss.”

Lia lowered her eyes. “Pleaseforgive me. I had nowhere else to go.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed. “I donot recognise you, miss. Are you notfrom Prost?”

Lia did not answer immediately, and wondered where Prost was, until itoccurred to her she was standing in it. “No, I am from Crossmoor.”

“Then what are you doing here at this late hour?”

Lia shook her head. “I… I am not sure. Some men were holding me against my will butI managed to escape.” She repeated herself. “I have nowhere else to go.”

The woman looked shocked. “Youwere being held against your will? Thatis monstrous!” She lowered her voice slightly. “Come child, take a seat.” She led Lia to a quiet corner of thetavern. “I will bring you some broth anda drink.”

Lia was taken aback by the woman’s kindness. “May Revan bless you.”

A few minutes later the woman returned with a cup. “Drink this. It will help.”

Lia took the cup, sniffed it and took in the unmistakable odour of thewhiskey, a drink she usually couldn’t stomach. That time, however, she downed the drink in one mouthful. The woman looked more concerned than beforeand quickly refilled the glass. She thenplaced a bowl of broth and a plate of bread on the table in front of Lia. “My name is Olga. I will leave you to eat in peace, then we cantalk.”

Lia looked up and smiled briefly, but had to force back tears.

While she ate, Lia looked around the tavern and noticed that most ofthe patrons were still looking at her; they were most likely wondering what shehad said to Olga to solicit such a reaction. No-one approached her, however, which she was glad of; she did not wishto answer any questions. Lia realisedit was later than she thought when a man she assumed was Olga’s husband beganushering people out of the inn: “Come on you lot! Haven’t you got homes to go to?”

Lia finished the last mouthful of broth, mopped it up with theremainder of the bread, and rose to leave.

“Sit down, my child.” It was Olga’s voice. “If you wish, you may stay here.”

Lia looked at the older woman in desperation. “But I have no coin!”

Olga smiled. “I think for onceTod and I can make an exception. Wecan’t have a young woman such as yourself sleeping on the streets, not afterwhat you have been through.”

Lia was left speechless, but Olga didn’t appear to mind.

The last of the evening drinkers were leaving the inn when a figureappeared at the door, which caught Tod by surprise. “Sir! My friends and I have just arrived in your town; would it be possiblefor us to rent two rooms for the night?”

Lia looked up suddenly: the voice was familiar.

Tod’s voice broke her train of thought. “Of course, young man. We are notexactly bursting at the seams. Please,come in.”

The young man stepped back from the doorway, to allow a young woman ofabout Lia’s age to walk through: she was small, wearing a white robe, and Todbowed in reverence when he realised what that symbolised. A slightly older man followed the woman; hewas well-built and carrying a sword. Finally, the courteous man, who was also carrying a blade, entered theinn. Lia had to blink away tears ofrelief and joy to be certain she was not hallucinating. “Carly?” her voice was no more than awhisper, and the three did not hear her. Lia tried again. “Carly?”

The young woman was the first to turn in her direction; Lia noticedthat her friend’s face looked slightly different, almost more mature than sheremembered from a few days ago. Carlyopened her mouth to respond but words did not come forth. Suddenly, Michael ran towards her, gatheredher up in his arms and hugged her tightly. Lia wept into his shoulder for what felt like an eternity. Michael was content to hold her.

Eventually Lia composed herself and gently moved from Michael’s arms,which allowed Carly hug her. “I am sosorry about Francis and Natalya, Lia; your parents were like family to me, andI will miss them greatly.” Lia gripped her friend tightly in response, but didnot trust her voice. A few momentslater, Lia drew back and looked at Carly. “How did you know where I was?”

Carly flushed slightly. “It’srather complicated, and I promise I will explain later. We have been trying to catch up with you fortwo days, but didn’t expect to replace you alone.”

Lia wondered why her friend was embarrassed, but let it pass. “I got separated from two of my abductors,and the other is dead.” She said it in a very matter-of-fact tone.

“Good riddance.” Michael’s voice cut through the silence that followed.

Lia nodded briefly, then realised that Olbane was standing nearby. She turned to him, with a slight grin on herface. “I should have guessed thatwherever there was trouble you’d be around, Olbane Jonson.”

He chuckled briefly. “It is goodto see you too, Lia.”

Olga brought food for Olbane, Michael and Carly. Fighting fatigue, Lia stayed up and talkedwith them while they ate. She heard howCarly had overheard the young boy talking about Lia’s abductors and the banditattack. Carly skimmed over the part whenshe connected with Revan and defeated the bandits on her own, but Liasensed she was uncomfortable and did not press her for more. Lia again noticed that her friend lookeddifferent: it was as if her recent experiences had changed her. Carly had always been nervous, and while Lianoted that attribute had not completely disappeared from her demeanour, it wasless visible. What was more worrying forLia was the looks that Carly kept giving her when she thought she would notnotice. When Carly looked at Lia herface had a very apprehensive expression on it.

The subject inevitably moved onto Lia’s recent experiences, and it wasMichael that asked the first question. “Lia, did you know the people that abducted you?”

She shook her head. “I had neverseen them before, or heard of them. Twoare Surians, I believe, whereas their leader is foreign, definitely not fromour country.”

Michael looked confused. “Did theygive you any reason why they did what they did?”

Lia shrugged. “Nothing thatreally makes sense. Rastlin said on anumber of occasions that I am special, almost like the key to something. He even tried to justify the murder of myparents on that basis.”

There was an uncomfortable silence after Lia mentioned her parents,which was eventually broken by Olbane. “Rastlin is an Arezan name, if I am not mistaken. I presume he is the foreigner?”

Lia nodded. “They were taking meeast, as you know, so I would guess they were taking me to Areza.”

Olbane looked a little helpless. “The only reason we could think of for your abduction was because of theslave trade, but from what you are saying that seems increasingly unlikely.”

At the mention of the word ‘slave’, Lia snorted. Olbane raised an eyebrow and his voice grewlouder. “Are slavers tied into this aswell?” he asked.

Lia shook her head. “I do notbelieve so, Olbane. One of my captorsspotted what was a slaver caravan up ahead of us, and it unsettled Rastlin somuch that he split us up to avoid them. That’s how I came to be free of them.”

Carly interjected. “They let yougo without guard?”

“I was accompanied by Goadsby, but he died when our horse tripped overa tree root.” Lia said it in a very matter-of-fact tone, and Michael once againgrunted his approval.

Olbane seemed very interested in the slavers. “What happened to the caravan?”

“They headed back east; it appears Suria did not have what they werelooking for.” She said it bluntly. Carly’s eyes searched out Lia’s face, butwhen the blonde met the gaze she averted them.

Once more there was an uncomfortable silence, which Lia broke by risingfrom her chair. “I am very tired, andneed to sleep. Can we plan our trip homein the morning?”

Michael followed suit. “Ofcourse we can; we are just glad to have you back with us in one piece.”