2 | The Tauten Hills

A week after her confrontation with Felix, Allison arrives in a small village on the way to Remira named Tauten. It's an unassuming plot of land that reminds her of the settlements that cropped up twenty years back when the people were brought to this new world. Small makeshift gatherings that people were desperate to cling to.

Times have changed greatly since that point, but not everywhere. Places on the eastern coast generally tend to keep on a lower level. The people around here enjoy the rustic simplicity that the environment around them brings. It's the kind of feel Allison would go for—had she the choice of settling down anywhere.

A tall man stood at guard at the entrance of the settlement—a small scabbard hanging from his waistcoat. Allison saw the edge of the hilt looked to be rusty. He probably doesn't get to use the sword much—to the benefit of the town she guessed. Although if someone came around that did intend them harm she's not too sure he'd be any help in protecting them.

"Woah woah woah there missy," the man held up his hand and steps in front of her.

Allison lets the missy comment slide. She knew it was more a comment on himself than her. "I'm just passing through. Please step out of the way."

"We're not accepting anymore inhabitants," the man said. "You're going to have to go around."

"I'm not staying," Allison said.

"Everyone who stays here didn't plan on staying here said that, then they end up staying anyway. We need to increase our food output enough as it is."

"I'm headed to Remira. I've no reason to stay here."

"And what business do you have in Remira?"

"What business of it is yours?"

The man looked her over with a careful eye and he wrinkles his nose. "I'm going to need you to set down any weapons you may have on you."

"You must be joking."

"Strip your weapons or find another way through."

"You really couldn't think of another word for that?" She took a step closer to him. "We're done here."

"Uh uh," he shook his head and reached down for the sword at his side, only to realize that it wasn't there. "Huh…?" He looked down to find the scabbard gone from his waist. He looked back up to Allison inspecting the sword inside, her face contorting as she saw the full nature of the mistreatment of the blade.

"Really quite pathetic a sword, isn't it?" She looked up to him, cradling the sword carefully. "Were you planning on threatening me...with this?"

"How'd you..."

She shrugged and handed the sword back to him. The moment he touched its hilt the rust faded from the blade. "You should get that sharpened if you want to take your job seriously. Oh, and stop badgering travelers." She walks past him and he doesn't stop her—only gazing at surprise at the now-clean blade.

Allison notices the layer of attention that her presence has brought to the town. More than once she's noticed suspicious eyes gazing at her from between boarded up windows. The light reflecting off them the only hint that they're there. If they existed on a Jersey corner they would have all been foreclosed and abandoned. She instantly felt like more of an outsider here than when she first stepped into Nasseu all those years ago.

At the end of the crossing she finds what looked to be the local bar. There wasn't any sign on the front of the dilapidated building, but the scattered bottles lain around the entrance clued her in enough. Inside, she was intimately aware of the pairs of eyes staring at her. She grabbed a seat by the counter and rested an elbow on the top. Her eyes caught hold of the bartender's and she flashed a small smile. "What's your favorite drink here?"

The bartender stared at her—she looked to be in her early twenties. Battered with the passing of time she also looked like she could pass for early thirties. This world was not kind to youth.

"Depends on how much I want to forget. It's not often we get travelers."

"I'd match you and say it's not often I travel, but then I'd be lying."

"What brings you out here? Tauten's not got much for outsiders." She leaned back on the counter.

"Rumor has it that a dragon's been spotted around these parts. I'm looking for the source of this information."

"Dragon?" The woman scoffed. "Surely you don't believe in that?"

"I believe in a lot of things I doubt you would."

The woman sized her up and stood silently. "You look like a whiskey type of woman."

"I've been acquainted before," Allison said.

"Glad to hear it," she said as she starts to pour a glass. "Should I even ask where you heard that rumor?"

"Word travels far. I travel farther."

"Not much into sharing info yourself, are you?"

Allison smiled. "I try to keep my hand close to me if I can."

"You'll find that doesn't help you make a lot of friends 'round here."

"Not really looking for friends. Just to find the info I need."

The bartender slides her the glass. "Fair enough." She bent over the counter and looked over to a man sitting in the corner of the bar by himself. She nodded in his direction, "He'd probably be your best bet for local rumors. "Hey Sammy!" She called out.

Sammy looked up at her from his drink. "Whuzzat?"

"We got someone who will listen to your stories! Get over here."

The old man downs his drink and rests the glass back down on the table and stood to join them by the counter. "You rang, boss?" He whipped his head around and Allison could tell that the drink he downed wasn't his first for the night.

"We've got someone who's interested in hearing about that dragon you keep talking about?"

"The word spread from the town drunk?" Allison asked.

"Hey hey...hey now," Sammy turned to her and licked his lips, his eyes focusing on her and his whole system seemed to restart. "Just because a man is drunk...doesn't mean he's the drunk."

"Right," Allison said, shoving the topic to the side. "What have you heard?"

"Heard? Lass, it's what I saw!" He slammed both of his hands down on the counter. "I was out by my back yard just minding my own business. I felt this weird chill in the…" he blinked a few times and took in a deep breath. "Sorry. I felt this weird feeling in my gut. Like my stomach was swirling and I was gonna heave."

"Were you drinking then, too?"

Sammy looked at her with a curious look—not one of offense, but downright confusion. "No, why would I bring it up? If I had been drinking then it'd make complete sense why I was feeling that way. It's like I said, a drunk isn't always a town drunk."

"Sorry," Allison said, "Continue."

"I felt this feeling deeper in my chest and knew something was wrong. I looked up and saw a black dot flying in the sky. It was way higher than I've ever seen any sort of plane fly back before. I could almost see two little wings flapping from its back."

"How can you be sure of that? If it was so high up, I mean."

"I'd heard talk before of the creature," Sammy said. "I wasn't the first who had ever seen it. Mother Benita on the other side of town was the one who told me first. Anyway, I assumed that must have been it because of how clear our skies are anytime else."

"Mother Benita? Where can I find her?" Allison asked.

"She's on the other side of town. Big red building before the store.

Sammy was caught off guard. He looked from the bartender and then back to her. "I...didn't finish my story."

Allison finished her drink and set the glass down beside her. "You didn't see the dragon—at least, to a point that I can't confirm. I can't risk being led astray if what you saw was a strange bird or something like that." Allison reached into her pocket and pulled out a golden coin and sets it on the counter. "Thanks for the drink. It was perfect."

"Hey, you don't want to find that thing," Sammy said. His eyes grab her with desperation. "It does weird things to you."

"What kind of things?" Allison asked.

"I heard voices. Saw myself. It felt like everything in my head spilled out and surrounded me. Everything went dark and I blacked out. You don't want to face that."

"I do, but I appreciate the warning."

She stood up and took leave from the bar. As she's about to reach the door the bartender calls out: "Hey!" Allison stopped with the door halfway open and looked back. "If you don't end up getting yourself killed feel free to come back," the bartender said. "It's nice having another face to talk to."

She smiled back and nodded, turning and walking out the door. It was as close to the lie as she could stand.

Mother Benita's building was easy enough to pick out from the crowd. It certainly could be called red if you removed the layers of steel fortifying the outside. The entire building looked like it was ready to withstand a nuclear bomb.

Allison steps closer to the front door and is about to knock, but stopped when she smells a rank odor. A hint at first and then immediately it sends her doubled over—clutching her stomach as she coughs out. A familiar metal barrel is pushed against the back of her head.

"Give me one good reason I don't give my house some new paint."

Allison sighed. "Well, it would smell awful for one," she starts. "And for two, I think deep down you want to tell someone about the dragon you saw."

The old woman stared her hard but Allison knew that the tough game was up. There was hesitation in her fingers from the start. Unless she seriously antagonized her she never was in any danger of being shot.

Right on cue, Mother Benita lowers the gun and heaves a big breath. "Something tells me you won't leave unless I plug you full of holes or tell you what you want...and bullets are damn 'spensive around here."

Allison smiled, "You're smarter than many in this place."

"I knows that." She huffs, making space for Allison to enter the shop. "Don't need to tell me twice...was it 'Tonio that got in your way?"

"If you mean the guard out front, then yes. Didn't stand as much of anything other than some wasted minutes, though."

She made a ticking sound and set her rifle down by the door, shuffling past her and closing the door. "That boy's out there out of obligation. He's got a wife that's pregger than a busted cow. Her job's usually to man the guard post—and lemme tell ya she's mighty intimidating given the chance. But the poor sap's taken over the spot...and well, he's not."

"No, I don't believe so. Anyway, the dragon."

"Down to business, I like it. Truth be told I'm not one for small talk either. Lotta...wasted minutes. I like that."

Ironic. Small talk about not liking small talk. Everyone's got a flavor.

"Anyway, it was about a month ago," Mother Benita corrects. "I was out in the fields behind my shop here tending to my gardens. The like—you know. Out back there you can see the mountains back there. Stragglers and bandits live out them ways—they've got little camps dotted around the face of the mountain—always having a struggle or two between 'em, you see. So when I started hearing the sounds, I thought it was the carrying sound of one of their little scraps."

"But it was different?"

"Yessum, I was getting ready to head inside to avoid any possible spillover—they've come close to our little village in disputes before—but that's when I started feeling woozy in my heart."

"Your heart?"

"I started hearing voices in my head reflecting my thoughts at me—it was like hearing a mirror. Then I looked up and saw the monster. It was..." she looked at Allison with a very real look of fear on her eyes. "It was terrifying. It's body was like every dragon I saw on TV when I was a youngin'. Thick black belly all scaled to the brim. But it's face...it's face was like a mask. A human mask. That wasn't no dragon's face. It looked like it could eat you like a human would...that thought was most terrifying of all."

There was a certain truth to that thought. It's terrifying to imagine a beast causing carnage and ripping apart flesh with its sharpened teeth, but there is a certain horror to the unrefined human figure biting into another that she couldn't misplace.

"I talked my head off about it when I went to the ol' drink." Mother Benita continues. "Got too tired of talking about it so I stopped going."

"Your talk seems to have caught on," Allison said. "Guy in the bar was talking your story up."

"Must be Sammy," Mother Benita heaves, "That boy will talk your ear off for an hour and say only a second's worth of talk."

"I got that impression pretty early."

"Don't mind him, even if he is over-talking." She waves a hand to the air. "But I guess I have his mouth to thank for your coming here."

Allison gives a wry smile. "I wanted to get the info straight from the source."

"Well, you have it. Now tell me, what do you plan to do now that you've heard my tale?"

"I'm planning on confronting it. You won't have to worry about it visiting the area for much longer."

"You're mad, you know that?"

"I've got my own reasons for seeking the beast out. Don't trouble your conscience by thinking it's solely for your town's sake."

Mother Benita gave a grin of her own. "The age of heroes died long ago, is that it?"

"Heroes are destined to die for their causes," Allison said. "I'm not dying anytime soon." She bids the old woman her peace and then left her be.

Allison double checks her pack for her food reserves—contemplating if she should stock up more before her trip to the hills. If she rationed properly she shouldn't need to...but that kind of shoddy preparation only begged for misfortune to find her way.

She swallows her pride and doubles back toward the town commons. The air is thinner—less constricted around her foreign interests in this town. She's sure that the barkeep has done her part to help assuage those who think her suspicions should outweigh her own goals.

She finds the market and chooses not to act on the look that the shopkeep's wife gives her through the whole transaction. The keep himself seemed to be more at ease than what he would have been if she came right at the front, but Allison has been around this side of the planet long enough to know the look of a person who would never go past their initial thought—their feelings.

In a way it brought back memories of her time back in Nasseu, but those kinds of memories were not fond or appreciated. So back down they went.

She follows the path toward the rear exit of Tauten and puts the town behind her as the hills come crawling into view. Unfortunately for her, something—or someone—else has come into view first.

Felix stood blocking her path; his arms crossed and the normal amused look that crosses his face is gone. "You must really have a death wish if you're trying to take down Sakonna."

Allison's face contorts into shock. "H-How did you read my mind? I was sure..." Her mind then floats to another tangent. One she didn't think of in their last meeting. "Unless...you didn't." Felix said nothing to this, provoking another answer from Allison. Part of her knew that he wanted her to say it. "Issachar, right? Last time we..."

"I have nothing more to say on that subject," He grinned the smallest form. "Unless you listen to what I have to say."

"I'll only listen to Issachar's whereabouts. No more."

"Then it seems we're at a stalemate, old friend," he raises his arms stubbornly. "I have ears for much more than what I'm wanting, but you've made yourself clear the last time we talked your feelings on the matter."

"Well that much seems apparent. If you've nothing realistic you can offer me, then I've no wish to talk. Back out of my way."

"I'm afraid I'm not going to do that."

"You're thinning my already weary patience for you."

"And I'm calling your bluff," he said, standing firm.

She taps her forearm and the lance extends in her grip.

"Come on, you can stop pretending now. Just put it aside and let us talk like adults."

She took two steps forward.

"Allison..."

And she lunges—aiming the tip of the lance toward his leg. She was serious about making the trip harder for him if he didn't back down. Part of her hated to cause him harm, but she gave him more than fair warning. You had to learn one way or another.

When the lance bounced off of his leg as if she slammed it into a wall...it was safe to say she was surprised. She looked at the point of impact—faster than he even noticed her lunging—and the part of his leg she struck was glowing golden.

"You've formed a pact with them?!" She yells at him.

"I needed a way to protect myself from your threats if you were serious..." he looked down at her. "...and it seems you were." His smile fades.

"You are..." she was fuming with anger. "...such a hypocrite! You wouldn't have to protect yourself like that if you just let me be!"

"You know that I can't do that. This is the way that things must be. You know me."

She grips her lance tighter than before. Energy courses into the core of the weapon—willing all of her spirit to charge within. "I am going to warn you one...final...time..."

"No, I'm warning you. If you don't let down your lance and be reasonable about this—"

She whispers a faint prayer and a warmth from inside deafens everything from the next ten seconds. She bolted from her spot and thrust her lance with all of her might—shattering it through the golden pact that protected him—impaling him just off center of his gut. His eyes flew open and he was forced back and fell over on himself.

He held his hands around the wound and looked up to the sky—crying out in pain. He then looked at her with wild fury in his eyes.

"You've put your faith in mad gods—and after all we've been through you still underestimate me." She said. Bending down to him, "And that to me is the biggest insult of all. I'm out of pity for you, Felix. I don't know if that wound will kill you—probably won't, but I don't care anymore. If you're determined enough maybe you can crawl back into town and maybe someone will patch you up. What you do is your own accord. I'm done with it."

She ignored the words he said in retaliation—the cries he made after her as she stood up and walked away—toward the mountains. She retracts the lance and inserts the circlet back into her armband, tightening her grip on the pack on her back and continued forward.

No one was going to underestimate her...not if she had any say in the matter.