Chapter 15 - STRANGE FEELINGS
While the prison warder raged in the base office, another scene was being played out in a local bar, located in the heart of Pine Town.
The bar in Pine Town was a raucous scene, with an air that was thick with the smell of sweat, alcohol, and the murmur of discontent. The men who frequented this dimly lit establishment came to drown their sorrows, to forget the struggles of their day-to-day lives, and to speak freely about their troubles in the kingdom. But in the end, it is discovered that they are mostly here for the end result of satisfaction of their fleshly desires met by women of various height, sizes and shapes, lined up at the bar's entrance.
Some of these women also prance around in the bar, actively promoting their 'goods and services' to men who are willing, with a promise of helping them drown their sorrows for the whole of the night.
At a corner table, away from the central commotion, four men sat engaged in heated conversation.
"That scum!" A loud bang sounded as a man with nose and ear piercings slammed his nearly empty wooden cup of rum on the table. "How dare he deceive us!"
His companion, scruffy and just as drunk, nodded angrily, equally banging the table with his fist. "Aye! We trusted him, and he ran off with our money!"
Across from them sat two strangers, their faces shadowed by dark hoods. They listened closely, nodding and encouraging the angry men to keep talking.
"Did he?" One of the strangers said, pretending to be shocked. "How cruel of him to do so!" He continued, shaking his head to show his disapproval of the swindlers act, and equally show his support for the drunk begrudged men.
"Very cruel I tell you. But he won't go scot-free for long." The pierced man scowled, as he downed the last drop of rum in his cup.
"Another drink?" The second stranger offered, signaling the bartender. The pierced man grinned, momentarily forgetting his rage at the sight of more free alcohol.
"You mentioned selling off a healer at the beginning. You don't mind telling us more of what really happened do you?" The stranger who had offered the drink, tacitly pressed.
"Much appreciated, friend," the pierced man slurred, taking a little gulp out of his just refilled drink. "About what really happened, it all started two weeks ago when we stumbled on a boy while working on a field. This boy, begged us for a job so he could eat and as we were short of hands, we thought we could use more hands. Later he tagged along and would even render assistance when it wasn't really needed. He was a burden to us, but he would always stay within reach, asking everyday if there was something he could do. To cut the story short, he would go out alone most times and only sneak in at night to sleep with us.
One night, we stumbled upon him doing something unusual. He was healing a rabbit that had been caught in a trap we had set! At first, only thinking he had set the prey free, we were mad!" He recounted, gesturing every emotions with his arms.
"But then I remembered having seen something like that before while in the east region, Whispering woods. So I was able to get others to leave without causing a ruckus while explaining to them that the boy was a healer. Then one of us suggested getting in contact with a slave dealer to ask about the value of a healer. He came back with good news, and later the slave dealer insisted on confirming with his own eyes.
To clarify to him that we had really struck gold, we set up another trap and as expected, the boy healed the rabbit, the white light glowing from his hands clearing any other doubt." The man finished recounting, while the strangers listened. They watched him take several gulps of the drink before wiping his mouth.
The scruffy man leaned in closer, adding more points to his comrade's tale, "We sold him off, got good money for it. But then we discovered the money the dealer had paid was way more than what that traitor had told us. When we tried confronting him, he was nowhere to be found! The traitor ran off with all of it! Left us with nothing but pennies from the deal!"
"Who did you sell the boy to?" one of the hooded strangers asked.
"Didn't catch his name, but if I can recall,...he had a black double tusk tattoo on his left arm," the pierced man replied, his anger simmering again.
The strangers exchanged a glance. This was the last clue they needed. Satisfied, the strangers made their excuses and left, leaving the two men to their misery. They hurried through the narrow streets to a wealthy inn at the edge of town.
Inside, a striking woman donning a long brown fur robe, waited. Her back to the door as she looked over the town's night view. There wasn't much to look at anyway, and from her slight scowl, it was evident that she detested this place.
This woman was Merilda.
"We have news," one of the strangers said upon entering, bowing slightly. "We found men who sold Raymond. They said he's a healer and they got a high price for him."
Merilda's eyes gleamed. "A healer you say? We need to find him immediately then. What slave organization did they sell him to?"
"Iron Fangs." The men replied, still bowing.
"If it is Iron Fangs, then we have no time to waste. Prepare to leave." Merilda ordered, bringing out a map.
The men left the room, and she was left alone, tracing her fingers over the paper before scrolling it back up.
"Let's see how valuable you've grown to be... Raymond."
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Meanwhile, at dawn, Raymond and Rina, unaware of the hunt closing in on them, decided to go fishing at the stream behind their cave. The morning was peaceful, the sun rising and casting a golden glow over the land. They enjoyed these moments, far from the chaos of their past.
"We might want to consider leaving this place soon." Raymond started as he handed over the fishing pole he had sharpened at one end to Rina.
"Really? I thought I was the only one who had that thought." Rina commented, passing the fishing pole to her left hand so she could reach into her dress for something. She continued, "The thing is, I've got good news." she continued, waving a rolled up parchment paper in her hand with a smile.
"What is that?" Raymond asked, curious about what Rina could be waving so happily like that.
" I got hold of something that might help us tread more carefully. This is a map."
"A map." Raymond repeated monotonously.
"Yes. A map." Rina answered again before pausing " Hold on. Do you... not know what a map is??"
Raymond could only shake his head in response.
If not for the innocent look on his face and the fact that she now knows how his past had been, Rina would have laughed out loud in disbelief, 'How can you not know what a map is?!'
"Alright, let's just get done with this first and I'll explain what you need to know over our meal. Okay?"
"Okay." Raymond replied, watching her place the map back into her dress when a thought suddenly occurred to him. 'She didn't steal that too, did she?' 'If she did, then that should explain why she kept nodding her head so satisfactorily', he concluded, recalling the same proud and satisfactory look that had been on her face the other time she had displayed her trophies of thievery back in the cave.
"So, let's make me a fisherwoman, shall we?" Rina's beautiful voice sounded in Raymond's ears and anyone who heard could've sworn his heart skipped some beats as he looked into her bright golden eyes before quickly averting his gaze. In the blink of an eye, he was back to normal and couldn't help but wonder what it was that he had just felt.
They both spent the next couple of minutes fishing. With Raymond teaching and demonstrating while Rina learnt with a serious face, practicing.
"Look, Raymond," Rina called excitedly, holding up a large fish she had just caught. "Breakfast is ready."
Raymond smiled, his heart a bit light. He pulled out his own pole from the water, revealing two large fish stuck on the sharp end. A look of surprise appeared on Rina's face as she finally insisted Raymond had to teach her how to do that later. The latter only shrugged in acceptance, wading through the shallow water towards her. It was time to make breakfast with the fishes they've caught.