The Second Stranger

After being on the road for three days, the land had changed from the coastline plateaus to giant rolling grasslands that stretched as far as the eye could see.

The hills of dark green were beautiful and looked like a green ocean. One thing I noticed as I spent more time in this world was the freshness of the air. Everything smelled natural, crisp, and clean. The temperature was comfortable too. Sleeping in the wagon was pleasant, aside from the hard floor. We arrived at an inn that rested under an enormous tree. The hooded driver had told us to stay near the wagon while he went to get food for us.

When he went inside, both the blond boy and I got out to stretch our legs. I walked around the wagon, admiring the grassland hills and studying the hilariously stereotypical “inn”. Everything about it was...ordinary.

—I’m not sure what I expected, I said to Fern.

—‘What exactly were you expecting?’

—Well, I just said I don't know...but, I at least thought that being in a new world with magic would make the buildings look…different, I scratched my head and turned back to the wagon.

The other teenager had been digging in the dirt with a stick while I was admiring the hills. I walked up and peered over his shoulder and saw an hourglass-like shape he was drawing little cracks in.

“What are you drawing?” I asked.

The boy gasped and almost dropped the stick.

“It’s a map,” his voice cracked, and then he sat up. This was the first time he’d talked since I met him. “Of Stylos.”

I moved closer, peering at the crude drawing in the dirt.

“We are right here,” He explained, unknowingly answering my internal question. He traced the shape of the country with his finger around a small road that led north from Fern’s city, Corello.

“I see,” I said, crouching down to look at the drawing. The boy was adding mountains and rivers, giving the dirt map more life. “What’s your name?” I asked.

The boy lowered his head and continued drawing his map. “It’s Silas.”

“Nice to meet you, Silas,” I said with a friendly smile. “I’m Erik.”

Silas shifted uncomfortably and reached out, accepting my handshake. The academy would be dangerous without allies.

Silas studied me for a moment, then returned his gaze to the map in the dirt. “I lived by the docks. One of Corello’s public Voidbloods. No family, just me.” He pointed at the tattoo peaking below my neck. “When I turned sixteen, the duke figured he could make some extra coin by selling me off to the Cinders.”

Cramps formed in my legs, so I sat down on the dusty ground. Dirt got underneath my fingernails.

“Yeah, similar story here except, with family,” I said, clapping my hands together. “Say, what do you suppose it’s going to be like at the Academy?”

Silas cracked a laugh as he kept adding to his drawing of Stylos.

“I suppose we should worry about even getting to the academy first.” Silas sat back and tapped the top right corner of the country he drew. “This area, The Dark Woods, is home to beings that want to kill you before you even get to the Academy. Every map I’ve ever seen covers this area with skulls and bones.”

“You don’t say…” I trailed off. My heartbeat quickened, and I heard the pumping of blood flow in my ears. “What things live in the woods?”

Silas looked back at the drawing. “They say no Mageblood can enter because of a barrier. ‘It keeps the mages out and the beasts in,’ or so I’ve been told. It could be anything from the monster’s bestiary.”

“You wouldn’t have a copy of that lying around, would ya?” I asked.

“I am afraid not.” Silas shook his head.

I shifted uncomfortably, and my palms dripped in sweat. Monsters killing me before we even got to the academy never crossed my mind. I had assumed the worst part of all of this would be relentless training. I should have been taking this more seriously.

“You’re saying it’s dangerous to even get to the Academy?” I asked.

“Yes, incredibly. The Duke told me about it. He said he would get a bonus if I survived the journey and got to the academy. Apparently, a squad of Cinders will escort us to Ash. However, the journey doubles as a test for the kids. Survive, and you pass your entrance exam, die or are severely injured, and you fail.”

—Great…that’s good to know. I scratched the skin on my hand. We can’t die before we even start.

“Well, Silas, I guess we just gotta stay alert and look out for each other. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.” I pushed myself up, took a deep breath, and forced a smile. I reached out my hand to help him up. “Us Corello boys gotta stick together, you know?”

“Sure thing,” Silas said as he grabbed my hand, helping himself up. He scratched his head and looked at me, confused, but remained silent.

We stood for a moment feeling the breeze on our face when the door to the inn creaked open. The high pitch whine squealed as the door fell behind our hooded driver. He carried a bundle of cloth and two pouches of water on his hip. “Time to move,” he called gruffly.

I sighed, stood up, and slapped the dirt off my pants. “Looks like we’re off again.”

Silas erased his map, tucked the stick into his bag, and stood up. “Back to those uncomfortable seats,” he murmured as he fidgeted with his clothes. We climbed back into the wagon, settling into our usual spots. The driver snapped the reins, and the horses trotted, the wheels creaking as we resumed our journey.

Three days later, —exactly how Silas predicted— the wagon came to a halt at our last destination before we entered the Dark Woods. I let out a deep sigh as I stood up and stretched. Days of rough travel, sleeping in horse stables, and eating the discarded meat the hooded driver handed us had taken their toll. The promise of a proper bed was almost too good to be true. Silas’s excitement was equally palpable. He leaped from the wagon and raced towards the inn’s entrance.

—He’s in a good mood, I said to Fern.

—‘Well, he has a friend now. But it might also be because of that.’ I felt Fern tug my attention to the sign that swung above the Inn’s door.

THE LAST INN

Voidbloods Welcome

Hot Food, Cold Drinks, Soft Beds

‘Your last night should be a good night!’

—Why does that seem ominous? I thought, doubting the sign's message. I shrugged as I stepped off the wagon.

When I dusted off my pants and pulled my small bag over my shoulder, I heard a grunt from our hooded driver. Without a word, he snapped the reins, and the wagon rolled away, leaving us behind. I watched him go, confused.

—I wonder what his story was? I thought. The whole time, the man never spoke and never removed the hood from his head.

—‘Does it matter?’ Fern’s voice was dismissive. ‘He got us here. That’s all we needed from him.’

—Someone has an attitude, I said to Fern.

—Fern was quiet.

Something was up with him, but I didn’t have time to worry about his feelings right now. I turned back to the Inn and admired the words on the sign. Whether it was ominous, I needed a warm meal. Fern could wait; I was nervous too. The things Silas said about The Dark Woods were terrifying, but we were supposed to have some sort of escort to the academy. Surely they wouldn’t set up their recruits to die before they even got there, right?

—Let’s hope for the best. We don’t have a choice. Remember, I’ll keep us safe, I said quietly to Fern. I took a deep breath and pushed open the heavy wooden door.

The smell of burning wood and beer hit me immediately. The room was open, with a long bar to the right from where I entered. Behind the bar, I could see into the kitchen.

Three large cast-iron pots were boiling with some sort of soup or stew. There were barrels of what I presumed were alcohol. The air was warm and the smell from the stew crept up my nose. Two young men, both in their 20s, were hard at work behind the bar. One moved sacks of flour up from a cellar, and the other stirred the bubbling cauldrons. Silas sat on one of the bar stools, twiddling his thumbs and staring at the steaming stew.

Across the other side of the room, dozens of small round tables spread out across the room. The warm heat radiated from a large hearth in the far corner of the common room.

Above the fireplace, a bizarre collection of mounted heads adorned the wall. Enormous heads of bears, wolves, and a creature that looked like a giant lizard stared down across the nearly empty room.

A group of three adults sat at a table near the hearth.

With his back to the fire, a rotund frog-man with thin eyes hidden behind even thinner glasses let out a guttural laugh. He had white braided hair that trailed down the back of his wide head. When he laughed, his cheeks and hair bounced.

“Ah! You see lass, two before sunset. You owe me thirty Fabriks,” He belted out while tilting his enormous head towards us.

Sitting opposite him was a brown-skinned woman with short black hair that spiked out past her ears. She wore worn brown leather armor, with a sword attached to her hip. A round black shield leaned against her chair. The woman turned around and studied me with piercing blue eyes that seemed to glow. Then, she looked at Silas and returned to her meal.

“Hmph, you’re kidding, right?” She let out a puff of air and turned back to the frog-man. “Ugh, I can’t believe we gotta start work this early. You win, Captain,” She bowed her head and tossed over a couple coins over to the frogman.

“The new crop came early this year, eh?” the third person said. In between the two sat a pale man with long, ink-black hair and an impressively long beard.

—Cinders? I asked Fern.

—‘Looks like it, they are the ones supposed to escort us?’

I forced myself to look away from the three and sat down next to Silas. He still sat drooling at the cauldron. With a grunt, I interrupted his focus and sat down.

“Erik,” Silas whispered without breaking his gaze. “The barkeep is nice. He didn’t flinch when he saw my mark. Just said to wait for him. It almost makes the scary journey coming worth it. I’m going to savor this meal. Nothing will ruin it.”

A door opened in the back of the kitchen and a tall, bald, burly man stepped out. He was holding two large mugs and placed them down in front of us. He smiled and sat down on a stool behind the bar.

“Drink up, you’ll be needing it. Don’t be nervous little ones.” The bald man chuckled. “My two sons are Voidbloods, so I know how cruel this country can be to your kind. At least here you can relax for a little. Welcome to The Last Inn,” he said.

I relax a little, still aware of the three behind us. “Thank you,” I said. “It’s nice to talk to a friendly person for once.”

The barkeep nodded. “Hah! Well, at least soon you’ll be with your own kind behind that barrier there.” He motioned behind us, pointing toward where the forest lay. “Shame you can’t stay long.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Those back there,” He lowered his voice and nodded slightly to the group of people that sat by the hearth. “They’re your ticket through the forest, but I heard you leave tonight. Not much of a chance to rest.”

Silas drank down his mug of water quickly and then fiddled with his fingers. “I knew it was a fool’s dream to think we would be safe,” He mumbled under his breath.

“Sir, can I ask, do you know how dangerous the journey is to Ash?”

The man frowned and leaned forward. “I advise you to stay as close as you can to those three,” the man said.

“I see. Any idea of the sort of creatures that live there?” I asked, leaning forward.

—‘Why are you so curious?’ Fern asked.

—It’s good to be prepared. The more I know, the better the chance of survival we will have. Just trust me, Fern, I said.

“Oh, all sorts, you’ve got goblin tribes that roam around skirmishing with each other, deadly insects, and titan-vultures. Oh, I can’t forget the grootslang, the skeleton-knights, and maybe one guardian would roam around.” The old man was staring up at the ceiling, flipping his fingers out as he counted each monster that came to mind.

“I don’t even know what half of those are, Erik,” Silas said, elbowing me. “We are going to die. I knew it.”

“Let’s not say that.” I whispered back to Silas. “Um, sir, do you know what we are supposed to do?”

“Like I said, just stick as close as you can to those three. They have to bring at least a few recruits. They won’t let you all die. You’ll figure out the rest when you get to Ash. If you get to Ash, that is.”

I gulped. The three who were sitting by the hearth seemed intimidating and bulky. My assumption was correct that they were our escort.

I took a deep breath and turned around. “Silas, let’s go introduce ourselves.”

“What- what now? But we didn’t even get to eat. Plus, look how scary they are.” He whispered in protest.

I felt my stomach growl. “Oh, that’s right.” I laughed to myself and turned around. The barkeep had already begun pouring two bowls for us. He dropped them in front of us, and Silas and I dove into the stew. It tasted like the regular beef stew I had in the winter. Tender chunks of beef floated in a pool of brown gravy with pieces of soft cooked carrots brought back an assault of nostalgia. I devoured the food with Silas.

We were half-way done with our bowls when yelling started outside the entrance to the inn.

BANG!

The door slammed open with a sharp crash, and a chill raced down my spine. I jerked my head as shards of wood sprayed across the floor like deadly shrapnel. Instinctively, I shielded my face with my arms.

A man staggered into the room, his movements jerky and desperate. Blood soaked his tattered robes, which hung from his frame in shreds, exposing gruesome wounds that carved across his chest. Deep gashes revealed raw muscle and glimpses of bone. The copper scent of blood filled the air, turning my stomach.

He lifted his head, eyes wide with terror and pain, locking onto me and Silas. A gurgling sound escaped his throat, and he coughed violently, splattering the floor with dark droplets. My heart pounded in my ears, and a wave of nausea washed over me.

Beside me, Silas gasped, his face draining of color. His hands clutched the edge of the bar, knuckles white. “What the—” he whispered, his voice barely audible.

The man collapsed just a few feet away, the thud of his body hitting the floor echoing in the sudden silence. He still gurgled heavy breaths, but he was too weak to sit up. Still alive, but barely. Footsteps echoed from outside.

A figure emerged in the shattered doorway—a young girl, around our age, with long fiery red hair that framed eyes filled with fury. Her crimson-stained metal glove had razor-sharp claws down each fingertip, from which blood dripped steadily.

She stepped over the fallen man, and her gaze swept the room, pausing briefly on me and Silas. I felt frozen under her stare, unable to look away.

“Someone take this perv away from me,” she said, her voice edged with anger, “or I’ll decorate this nice floor with his insides.” She spat on the back of the bleeding man’s head, the sound sharp in the hushed room.

My mind raced, struggling to process the violent scene unfolding before us. Fear clawed at my insides, and I realized I was holding my breath. The warm comfort of the inn had vanished. The air was thick and suffocating.

Silas trembled beside me. “Erik... what’s happening?” he murmured, his eyes wide and glassy.

In a blur, the armored woman from the trio by the hearth appeared beside the red-haired girl, her movements so swift I barely registered them. Her eyes glowed with an eerie blue light, and she gripped the girl’s wrist with a firm hand.

“You newbies sure know how to ruin the end of a good meal,” she said coolly. “Care to explain what’s going on here?”