Young Writers Society

Despite the earlier inclement weather, the evening sky did its best to make amends with a wild display of colors across the horizon. Carris, Gwyn, and Alec exited the stables. The wind had died to almost nothing, and what would have otherwise been one of the most peaceful nights Carris had experienced in weeks was instead set alight by both the resplendent sunset and the life of Atheron. There was a buzz as a cluster of young women hurried by wrapped in winter cloaks and scarves, whispering in excited tones as the headed toward the heart of the city.

Carris had a feeling that she knew where they were headed, and sure enough the Smiths Inn was bustling with activity as the trio arrived. There was every type of person of every age, clambering for a way in.

“Looks like word got out,” Carris said to herself.

“He does have a beautiful voice,” Gwyn added more optimistically.

Alec rubbed his hands together, a smile on his face. “We don’t get music very often in Riverdale. My daughter used to sing.” His voice drifted off and he averted his gaze from the girls.

Gwyn gave Carris a quizzical look, but she shook her head.

“No matter. If we don’t get inside, we won’t get to experience it.”

The small mass of bodies was slowly shuffling in like sand through an hourglass, thinning on the outside to flood the inside of the inn. The three shuffled along with the crowd, bumping off of each other, but there was no malice. For as dour as the mood had been since arriving, there seemed to be a different feeling tonight: hope. Perhaps, for just a night, everyone could forget about what was going on outside this small establishment and come together as one. Someone bumped into Carris more forcefully than necessary, and she turned. To her disappointment it was Malcolm. He was barreling through the crowd, elbows out like a mad chicken. When he met Carris’s eyes he smirked.

“Fancy seeing you here,” he nearly sneered. “I see your shadow has been sewn back on,” he said, nodding toward Gwyn. She had seen him and was giving him a sour look.

Carris ignored the slight. “Where is Devlin? No one has seen you for hours!” she had to raise her voice over the rising throng.

Devlin pointed past her and up the hill. “Red Keep. Someone must find out what’s going on since you couldn’t find your way here. But listen, while you’re all here, you might as well be as useful as you can, and keep your eyes peeled for any of those Sadorian men we saw outside the caves. Devlin thinks something may happen here tonight. Think you can manage that?”

Carris felt the heat rise in her neck. One more comment and she would manage a way to find her fist to his crooked, ugly nose. She breathed out through gritted teeth. She wanted to snap back, but she wasn’t even sure what to say. How could he be so arrogant to think that he would have done any better, all alone. She had survived being tossed in a frozen river. She doubted that he would have had the willpower to do that.

They were passing through the doorway now, and Malcolm made sure to squeeze himself through first, cutting off Carris. With a swift step she managed to stick her foot out. It clipped his heel and he staggered forward into the mass, nearly knocking over two fellows who had clearly already spent plenty of time at the bar. They growled in protest as he jostled their foaming mugs, and as Malcolm turned to retaliate at Carris one of them grabbed him by his collar and started hollering some sort of drunken tirade in his ear.

Carris took the opportunity to drag Gwyn to the left, keeping a tight grip on her arm. The big staircase to the left was already nearly full, but she managed to push her way though. At least here, being small helped to navigate the crowd. Alec kept up, huffing and puffing as he went, but there was a grin on his face that bemused Carris. Did he like being in such a living swarm of bodies?

Carris lived nearly as secluded as he did in Riverdale, and she was already tired of the amount of people in the place. She felt her heart racing, and every bump and shove irritated her more. But at last, they made their way up the staircase and to the corner of the balcony that overlooked the back of the bar. They rested their elbows on the balcony, trying to carve out some room among the townsfolk trying to look down.

The stage had been set, quite literally. There was a three-step ladder behind the bar that led up to the top of it where an extended stage stuck out five feet by five feet. It had a bright blue runner with gold trim along the edges. The bright colors stood out from the brown walls and earthy tones of the crowd’s clothes. But it was nothing compared to Miles who was tucked behind the doorway directly beneath them. Carris strained over to get a getter look, Gwyn holding onto her elbow, fearful she would plummet to her demise. It would, of course, only be the third time Carris would have fallen from a great height in the last week.

Miles was fidgeting with the strings on his instrument while the innkeeper, dressed in the usual dingy white apron talked to him. It was far too loud to hear a word they were saying, and reading lips at that angle was impossible. Carris thought of the last thing that Malcolm had said. Something may happen here tonight. But what? What could a random minstrel performance have to do with an evil being like Eridan? Surely, he wasn’t interested in a musical performance. Or was this some sort of distraction? Carris felt like she didn’t have all the pieces. Like being stuck in Riverdale had put her behind the trail of a hunt while everyone else was ahead with their falcons and hounds. She pulled herself back over the railing and put her mouth close to Gwyn’s ear.

“What did Malcolm mean?”

Gwyn cocked her head to her side. “What do you mean?”

“Just now. He said to keep our eyes open. Is Devlin looking for someone?” She lowered her voice. “Is Eridan in the city?”

Gwyn shook her head vigorously. “No. We talked to the magistrate the first night. I don’t know what all was said but the guards seemed to think that maybe those bad men with him at the caves had come into the city.”

Carris felt ice run her spine. “What do you mean? They’re here?” she blurted out, thrusting her hands out over the crowd.

Gwyn’s eyes widened and stumbled over her words. “No, I mean, maybe. But Miles said everything would be okay. We’re just supposed to enjoy tonight. Can’t we just listen to him sing?”

Carris ran both hands through her tangled hair.

“If those men are here, then Eridan is coming!”

She looked across the crowd. Perched on a chair back in the opposite corner, holding onto a supporting arch beam was Malcolm, his dark eyes flicking back and forth as if he was searching for prey.

Gwyn put a hand on Carris’s arm. “We talked to the magistrate. He knows about it. If he isn’t scared and neither is Miles or Devlin, shouldn’t we be okay?”

Carris growled. “No, no Gwyn, we shouldn’t be. You saw what he could do! Why do you think anyone has the slightest clue what is going on or how to stop him?”

Gwyn was taken aback and bumped into Alec who had apparently been listening intently but not interfering, Until now. He put a soft pair of hands on Gwyn’s shoulders and gave a stern look to Carris. “Do you not think that you may be going after the wrong person?”

Carris looked at Gwyn. Her face was flushed, her eyes wide, and her lip was trembling slightly. In all likely hood the two girls looked about the same. She wiped her brow and closed her eyes, trying to shut out the noise and concentrate on her thoughts.

If something goes wrong here, it’s going to be a nightmare. How would we even get out of this inn?

She looked Alec dead in the eyes. “I’m going to talk to Malcolm. I don’t know what’s going on here, but I think he does. And He’s going to tell me.”

Gwyn said nothing, still recovering from the outburst. Alec nodded. “We’ll be here.”

Carris pushed her way back through the crowd, down the stairs against the flow of traffic, thankful that the inn was about as full as it could be, and the flow of newcomers had halted for the most part. Still, pushing through the sweaty, hot, thick mass of bodies was exhausting. Most just gave her a look of annoyance, but those with drinks were even slower to move out of the way, and Carris tried her best to not knock anything or anyone over. She was so far out of her element.

At last, she snaked through to the other side of the inn, spotting Malcolm’s head above the rest. He had apparently not observed her. His gaze was out over the crowd. Carris straightened her frizzy hair and took a deep breath. She felt hot and flustered and distracted, but she could never show weakness to Malcolm. Not anymore. He was the last person she wanted to talk to, but if she didn’t get him to talk, there was no one else to turn to for information.

She tapped his leg timidly, not wanting to startle him, and not really wanting to physically contact him either, but her voice was already tired from yelling with Gwyn. He looked down, startled, as he faltered and tried to maintain his balance. He looked down his nose with a furrowed brow but obliged and lightly dropped with hop onto the wooden floor with a thud too soft to be heard more than a foot away. He tried his best to look disinterested, keeping his gaze on the townsfolk.

“What do you want? Seen anything?”

Carris hesitated. She wasn’t sure exactly how to ask any of what she wanted to know. “Is Eridan in the city?” she blurted out.

“Don’t you think we’d all be dead if he was?” Malcolm said in a sarcastic voice.

“Is he coming? Tonight?”

Malcolm’s gaze flitted back to her for a second.

“Well?” Carris pressed. “If you want my help, you better answer my questions, and answer them well.”

Malcolm let out a bark of laughter, but there was a slight flutter to it like he was trying to cover up his nerves. “What makes you think I or Devlin want your help?”

“Because you asked for it not five minutes ago you dunce!” Carris exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips. She realized it was the same pose her mother used to make when she was at the end of her rope with Carris. Carris wasn’t sure she liked the similarity, and she could confidently say that she had never been as big of a nuisance as Malcolm.

He finally met her gaze. “Fine.”

“Fine what?”

It’s like pulling a tooth out!

“Fine, I’ll tell you what I know. But only because I don’t want to die either, and certainly not because of your clumsiness.” He leaned in, his hot breath on her cheek. “At least two of his companions are inside these walls. The big one and the older, frailer one we saw outside the caves.”

It made sense. Those were the two that had been with Eridan at the Gnofen riverbank as well. If they had passed through the parted river they would have been here for several days.

“Why hasn’t Eridan shown his face yet?”

“Devlin thinks he’s trying to sneak in. Make an entrance to inspire the townsfolk, and bypass most of the security all at the same time.”

Carris squirmed. There was nothing about any of this that made her feel anything but queasy. Would this nightmare ever end?

“And where is Devlin?”

“He in the Red Keep. Keeping an eye out,” Malcolm said.

“An eye out for what? And why does he have us here if he’s up there?”

“Look, it’s not as simple as strolling into the keep. You need special permissions.” Here Malcolm paused. He was deliberating if he would tell her more. She could see the gears moving in his head.

“Out with it, Malcolm.”

“He thinks he’s going to sneak in through an old well tunnel passage.” He was about to turn away, but something seemed to snag his attention. He turned back to her. “He threw you into a river, yes?”

“Yes. And he parted it like it was dry land,” Carris said, quickly checking back on Gwyn and Alec, making sure they were still there. She gave a subtle wave to Gwyn but either she wasn’t looking in their direction, or she had been more offended by Carris’s outburst than she had realized. Perhaps that was fair.

“Do you think he could make himself fly?”

“Fly?” Carris almost laughed.

Malcolm sighed. “Maybe not fly, but lift himself off the ground?”

Carris began to see it now. “If you’re asking if he could lift himself out of a well like some vengeful spirit, then the answer is yes. He reined in a river Malcolm! For all we know he could move a mountain!” What a terrifying though that was.

Malcolm gulped. For the first time in a long time his aggressive and mean façade dropped and Carris saw the young boy she grew up alongside with. And in truth he was still a boy. And she was still a girl. And they were both leagues out of their depth of knowledge or abilities.

But she had to focus. Getting out of Atheron alive was going to take concentration and logic, not fear and confusion.

“Why does Devlin want you here? Why not at the keep?”

“Because, we had a time limit, but he was going to stay back and try to hide. No one here will believe us when we tell them about Eridan. The magistrate here is a real river rock. He just gets in the way.”

“Then this is the plan,” Carris said. “We keep our eyes out for those two Sadorians. We stick together. If anything should happen tonight, we meet at the stables and get out. We can head for Riverdale, away from Atheron.”

“And leave Devlin to fend for himself? I’m not doing that,” Malcolm said, crossing his arms.

“I’m not risking Gwyn’s life for a soldier. We’ll wait for you in Riverdale for two days.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“What?” Carris snapped. She had been about to turn back and head up to Gwyn and Alec.

“You do what you must, but I’m sticking here with Miles and Devlin.”

“Why? You think you’re some sort of warrior because you’ve been out here for a few days? Eridan will kill all three of you if you get in the way, and knowing Devlin, getting in the way is his entire plan.” Carris could feel the anger welling back up inside her. Something in her still wanted Malcolm to be safe. She hated him, and she hated that she hated him, but in this moment, it seemed trivial in the light of what was going to befall Atheron. Eridan was coming, that much was inevitable, and if Malcolm stayed by Devlin’s side that meant he would be fighting him soon. And from every instance she had seen with Eridan, it would be very brief and deadly.

“I’ll do what I must, to help Devlin.”

Carris grabbed his arm. “Why? You don’t owe him anything. He’s just a soldier, like Eridan. He has his war he wants to win.”

“Because he’s cared enough to pay attention to me. To listen to my suggestions. He values what I have to say. You know it was I that got us into the Red Keep, today, not Devlin.” Malcolm jabbed a finger at Carris. “He’s been nicer to me than you have in a long time.”

“Nicer?” Was he serious? “Nicer! Wonderful. He’s been nicer. He’s using you,” Carris pleaded.

Malcolm shook his head and wrested his arm away. “Just because you hate the world and refuse to see any good in people doesn’t mean that I must be the same way. We parted ways a long time ago Carris, we just didn’t have the means to distance ourselves.” He gestured to the crowd. “But now we do. So why don’t you just take Gwyn and leave. Now. Forget about this whole world that you find so despicable and get out!”

Carris felt her chest tightening and tears welling up in her eyes. She blinked them away.

Why do I care what he thinks? We haven’t been friends in a long time.

“I would love to leave! It’s all I ever wanted to do back home. And you know who made it more difficult every step of the way? You!” She shoved him in the chest with two hands, knocking him back into the chair he had stood on. “You ruined my business, bullied me and my friend, and all you could’ve done was leave me alone. Why is that?”

Malcolm’s face was beet-red, his hands gripped the arms of the chair so tight that his knuckles turned bare white, and he looked ready to pounce like a mountain cat at any second, but a loud shout from the front of the room caused all eyes to turn to the center stage which Miles had mounted, dressed in the yellowest pantaloons one could imagine, with a striped yellow-and-blue blouse that showed off his bare chest and a bright blue cap with a massive yellow feather in it.

The crowd cheered and whistled as he gave a tremendous bow and smiled gleefully. He let the crowd cheer for an extended time as Carris and Malcolm could do nothing but watch in awe at the attention he received.

After at least a minute he quieted the crowd, although it took several attempts.

“Good evening my fair folks of Atheron!”

The crowd responded in like with clinks of beer mugs and some whoops and hollers.

“It has been a long winter, and a cold occupation, but tonight let me take your thoughts to warmer places and happier thoughts! I promise to you fine citizens that this night will be a night that you never forget!”

He gave a strum to his instrument and a little whoop. “Let the show begin!”