12 The Maiden Cries

°°°

"Well, it doesn't look like they all fell into that hole while they were planning of feasting on dog meat," Locke said with a sinister smirk. "So, 'Light Bearer', what do you have to say?"

"Uhn ..." She covered her nose with the fabric of her dress sleeve. "I don't know. I think I should know, but I'm not sure. The dogs… "

"That's great news. You don't know. So there's nothing you can do," Locke interrupted her, taking Alexa by the wrist to get her out of there. "As such, we must be as far as possible from this pit before everyone decides to blame the foreigners."

"Should we at least warn someone? That's ... Cruel and these people don't deserve this end. We'll let someone know. Then we leave," Alexa already figured that her pragmatic travel fellows would not be easily convinced to help anyone, not in the situation they were in, a few leagues from the port, and after a few disastrous past experiences on this field.

"Nops, no, non!" muttered Locke as he pulled the maiden away from the pit. He turned to Iain,

"What are you waiting for? Beelzebub to appear and claim these bodies? When he comes, say hello on my behalf!"

"Actually…," Iain began, "Lex is right. These people need to be honored by their families. The Christian rites must be performed to purify their faithful souls. Everyone, but you deserve the respectful farewell from the living. We don't need to get too involved. I go to that villa to warn the retinue about it. I'll talk to the woman who sold me the dress. You wait for me in the chapel. I won't take long."

The grotesque sight of this pagan-like slaughter certainly had shaken everyone's emotions, and even Locke didn't retort in the face of a seemingly sensible solution. None of them wanted to be exempt. They just couldn't afford to take any higher risks. Not when they were so close to the end of their dire journey.

They went back to the chapel, and Iain took his horse, and they watched him cross the shallow stream carefully, as it was running faster after the rain. Alexa, however, was restless after the messenger's departure, and preferred to stay in the chapel porch, looking in the direction of the manor, in anticipation.

Trying to dig up her memories about the teachings on otherworldly matters, this dark ritual had vaguely familiar characteristics to the maiden. But those were things she knew only in theory and everything was confused in her mind, and the eschatological view of those violated and exposed bodies engulfed anything else; people who even a day before hadn't even imagined that they would end as corpses in a pit.

"What kind of thing is that?" she muttered to herself, puzzled and shocked, trying to put her thoughts together and get them to make some sense.

As she thought, Locke didn't disturb her and was grooming the horses again to leave as soon as Iain returned.

Necromancy.

The word came to the maiden's mind, with the image of the cold moon revealing behind the clouds. Someone with a particular heretic knowledge. Not just some political group was trying to blame it on supposed witches, as usual. The five stakes meant a cycle… and… and…"

It was of no use, she just couldn't remember. It wasn't like she wanted to learn such heresies, either.

"Look, Iain is coming back!" Said Locke absently, glancing over his shoulder at the messenger's silhouette against the night horizon. He was coming very fast, at a fast gallop in fact, and before he crossed the stream, Lex noticed something strange.

Locke and Lex's horses fidgeted, trying to get out of the ropes, and that caught Locke's eye as well. The pair turned to Iain and his horse, approaching wildly.

He braked the animal of terrified eyes and nervous behavior and jumped off the horse. In a way, it was the same Iain as always, except that his expression was not the same. It was just his illusorily, corporeal spirit. It was his Shade.

He stopped in front of Lex, and said in his hollow voice,

"At least the hemorrhoids don't hurt anymore, damsel."

Lex felt the same tightness in her chest that seemed to tear the flesh like when she lost each of her brothers and her father... Iain was family to her. The stagnant, intense gleamy eyes of the apparition fixed on her face, but the maiden could already see cloudy and thick tears were streaming down her face.

"What happened?!" she asked, her voice breaking with emotion, and the apparition only answered,

"Why don't you say your prayer? I want to go to a good place. Am I going to a good place?"

"Of course you are! Of course you are!" Lex was crying openly now, disgusted that her friend from so many adventures had left them so suddenly. She clapped her hands once, feeling it burning and heating, but Iain's soul gestured for her to wait, and addressed Locke,

"Don't abandon her, don't steal her, and don't touch her. My master will find you and will tear your heart out wherever you are."

The mercenary seemed to swallow, his face severely contracted, but he adjusted his belt and mockingly replied,

"The messenger doesn't stop talking bullshit even after he's dead. Iain, shut up at least now. Rest in peace, bastard."

Fantastically the idea that man and spirit could start a silly arguing for a long time without anyone giving up crossed her mind. That got a sad smile from the maiden. She stepped between them, and raised her palms in front of her dear Iain's face, and began sending him on his journey into the next world.

As Iain's apparition faded into a light, something fell to the floor. Alexa now felt that her hands were really starting to burn as if burned by fire but suppressed a moan of pain. Her sorrow was greater than the physical pain. She crouched down to try to see the small object.

The metallic item was shaped like a half-moon, and the maiden took a while to realize that it was half a coin. An obolus to be precise.

Only half of an obolus?

What did that mean?

She turned to the warrior, who had his back to her. Lex figured he might be dealing with his own feelings, though he always preferred to prove to be the worst person possible.

"Locke ..." she called, and after a few moments of silence, he turned, his expression resolute.

"Prepare all your prayers, Lex. We'll get Iain's body back. You fight with your Spiritual Torch or whatever, and me with my good old sword."

The maiden reached for air, and inflated her chest while mentally preparing for what was yet to come.

"Yeah, let's get Iain."

°°°

Alexa continued,

"Because I had a bad feeling, and I was scared, they didn't know what to do with me. So Master Bressac went ahead while my bodyguard waited for his signal. But…" the maiden could not help remembering the facts, and her voice choked with emotion," it was not long, and his horse returned alone as we were crossing the stream. Even more worried now, we were sure something terrible was going on in the stone manor. Master Locke thought of the wickedness of men, and I, after what I had seen, only feared the infernal powers!"