Benlunar - Episode 4
Lilian comes face to face with a stranger and an old friend.
Take the road up through the mystic mountains
Past the fantastic fishing fields and fountains
Three days through the Titan woods
Whose trees glare down through leafy hoods
Crawl in the darkness of the biting caves
It’s more dangerous the other ways
Then finally find yourself later or sooner
In the hidden valley town Benlunar
Lilian was standing stock still. She had just come face to face with a mysterious person who had somehow managed to climb the walls of one of Benlunar’s tallest houses and was now staring at her through the window. Time slowed to heartbeats. Lilian gazed at those big green eyes and was suddenly brought back to her senses. She breathed in as the stranger brought their right hand back balling it up into a fist. Lilian managed to get the first few sounds out of her mouth before the stranger’s fist connected with the glass, cracking it under brute force. The syllables of CROM and WELL left Lilian’s lips as she stumbled back from the shattering glass. As she lost her balance and fell to the floor time jerked back into gear, seemingly doubling its speed so as to make up for the seconds of stillness. Shards of glass sprayed across the floor as Cromwell Attorcop spun up and out of his chair and round to face the intruder. The stranger poured themselves into the room in a swift, slithering movement ignoring the broken glass around the window’s edge. Their hood obstructed their face so Lilian couldn’t get a good look at them, but for as long as she lived she would never forget the look of purpose and hatred in their eyes. They were almost standing over her now but had shifted their attention to the greater threat. Lilian scrambled backwards toward the bed, panicking and hoping to get under it, the gap however was too small and so she pressed herself into the corner between the bed and the wall. From here she had a view of the whole scene, she desperately wanted to close her eyes and disappear but an older more instinctual part of her brain was forcing her to keep them open just in case any danger would come her way again. She watched as Mr Attorcop produced a vile of Lunar Essence from somewhere in his sleeve or waistcoat, Lilian recognised the flash of distinctive brightness against Attorcop’s night-black clothes. The stranger stood up carefully and pulled a large knife from a scabbard at the back of their belt, Lilian thought to shout, to warn Mr Attorcop that this person had a weapon hidden from his sight, but before she could find the words Attorcop moved with unnatural speed. He unstoppered the vile and dragged it across the air in front of him, the bright fluid slipped out from the cap but instead of spraying everywhere or falling to the floor, it seemed to hang in shimmering lumps across the air in front of him. The stranger must have been just as surprised as Lilian because instead of leaping in for the attack, they decided in a split second to shift their weight and focus on defense. Looking back on these events later, Lilian would realise that this initial decision was their undoing. The production of the essence did not plunge the room into darkness but Lilian did notice a visible drop in the light around her. In a flash Cromwell Attorcop reached out and plucked a large shifting lump of essence from out of the air. He moved quickly forming his hand into a fist around the liquid, then in a flash he pulled it back and was suddenly holding a brilliant glowing sword. It was if he’d had an invisible scabbard in front of him and the sword had been pulled out of the air, the large blob of essence was now gone. The stranger wasted no more time and leapt across the room towards Mr Attorcop, they brought their own blade round and it connected with Attorcop’s sword with a deafening clash. Unperturbed by Attorcops swift defense the stranger slashed at him again and again but their knife only ever connected with the pointed, razor sharp sword that Attorcop was maneuvering deftly all around him. At first it seemed like the intruder had the upper hand, pushing Mr Attorcop back towards his desk, past the still floating lumps of liquid. But as soon as Cromwell felt the wood of the desk touch his leg he reached out with his free left hand and grabbed the first thing it found which happened to be an ink well half full and with a quill still sticking out of it. He brought up towards his attacker’s face and stopped inches away letting the black liquid continue out past the rim and into the stranger’s eyes. Surprised they stepped backwards into some of the essence and began frantically wiping their face with their sleeve. The essence seemed to lose its light as soon as it touched the fabric of the stranger’s cloak as it soaked into the threads. Attorcop did not hesitate to take advantage of the stranger’s blindness. He pushed himself off the desk and used the momentum to slam his weight into the attacker pushing them across the room. Attorcop then turned towards the essence, almost half of it had gone by now but without a moment’s hesitation he opened his mouth wide and swallowed one of the shimmering lumps. Lilian gasped, she threw her hand up to her mouth to try and catch the sound coming from it. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears and almost rubbed her eyes in disbelief as she watched Mr Attorcop’s form slowly become opaque. He turned to look directly at Lilian and brought a finger up to his lips, signalling her to keep still and quiet. Lilian watched as his bearded face went almost completely see-through and finally disappeared. Lilian was stunned. The hooded figure in the corner of the room had finally managed to regain their vision but at the cost of losing sight of their target. Lilian watched them whip round and round desperately seeking out Mr Attorcp or any sign of where he might have gone. Their ink stained eyes finally fell upon Lilian. She wanted to scream, to run or to disappear completely just as Mr Attorcop had done. Feelings of betrayal and abandonment flooded her stomach as the stranger approached her with their hand stretched out. They must have thought they could use her as some sort of bait or hostage and they were just kneeling low to grab her hair when Lilian’s fear overcame her and she shut her eyes and screamed into her chest.
She expected pain. She expected movement. But as she waited in the darkness, several seconds went past without anything happening. Slowly she opened the corner of her eye and look up. She saw the stranger, frozen with an outstretched hand just inches from her head. They were staring intently at her but all movement had ceased. Lilian saw a tiny twitch, flicker under their right eye, from this close she could see that they had a black cloth pulled up over their nose to further obscure their features. Their skin was pale and Lilian could feel hot, sweet smelling breath on her cheeks. She looked down at the silver clasp fastening their cloak and saw that it was shaped like a hand, palm up, fingers closed. She wanted to reach out and feel it when the stranger finally slumped onto the floor revealing a tall Cromwell Attorcop directly behind them. His silver blade was out in front of him, the tip still pointed at his assailant.
“Get up, stand behind me.” Attorcop spoke quickly and calmly and Lilian did as she was told without hesitation. When she had stepped past Mr Attorcop she turned to see that the stranger was still writhing on the floor, they weren’t screaming but they were obviously hurt. Lilian glimpsed a large cut across their back as they tried to scramble to their feet. Attorcop approached them, his blade aimed down at their throat, ready to strike. Lillian noticed that the strangers knife was on the floor by the bed, presumably dropped in the commotion. Unarmed and desperate, the stranger narrowed their eyes up at Attorcop.
“Who sent you?” Mr Attorcop almost shouted the words. The stranger said nothing, but Lilian saw the corners of their eyes wrinkle from a smile, they glanced at the door, then at the window and finally made up their mind. They began muttering in whispers under their breath. Mr Attorcop must have noticed too because he took a step forward and shouted, “Hey!” trying to break their concentration, but the blade was now a finger length from the strangers throat but they didn’t stop, nor did it seem like they were going to answer Attorcop’s question. In a flash, the stranger clapped their hands together with an abnormally large crack, Lilian flinched, looked back and the stranger had gone. She looked down at the space they had just occupied and there on the floor was a pile of sticks and leaves arranged in a strange pattern. The stranger, was nowhere to be seen.
In the minutes that followed Lilian said nothing, she was breathing fast and heavily and kept jumping to look at the rustling of a page or the movement of a curtain out of the corner of her eye.
“It’s alright. They’re gone.” Mr Attorcop was speaking from the other side of the room. He was slowly easing the remaining essence into the half empty vial from which it had come from. Once he was satisfied that all of it was in there, he proceeded to place the tip of his blade in the top of the little bottle and Lilian watched as it began, drip by drip to melt into the vial. Once the hilt and handle had gone completely Attorcop flicked the cap shut and held the vial up to his eye line. The liquid had been depleted by about a quarter of its total. Seemingly satisfied he hid the vial away and turned to Lilian.
“Here, drink this.” He said softly, reaching for one of the larger bottles on a shelf by his desk and handing it to her. Obediently, she drank. The brown water tasted like overly ripe apples and after just one swallow she felt herself begin to calm down. Her heart beat slowed and her breathing began to return to normal. Attorcop sat her on the bed and knelt in front of her.
“Lilian I am so sorry you had to witness that. And thank you for shouting when you did, a moment later and we may not have been having this conversation.” Attorcop’s eyes were visibly shaken, Lilian wondered if he was maintaining his composure for her sake.
“Who was that? Where did they go?” She asked.
“I don't know who they were but they were probably sent by someone out to get me. As for where they went… I have some theories." Mr Attorcop poked the sticks on the floor with his foot.
“Were they trying to…” Lilian couldn’t bring herself to say the actual words.
“I’m afraid so.” He shrugged, “Not the first time and I wager it won’t be the last.” He stood up and began mopping up ink and sweeping broken glass. Lilian sat there, still stunned for a while before getting up to help him. They cleaned in silence for a time before Lilian remembered something.
“The clasp!” She exclaimed.
“Excuse me?” Cromwell looked up.
“They were wearing this silver clasp on their cloak. It looked like a hand, like this.” She raised her hand up beside her, fingers tight together, “does that mean something?” Mr Attorcop rolled his eyes and went back to mopping up ink with a rag.
“Oh I don’t know. Probably some secret organisation or something. These assassins they’re all the same. They creep around in the shadows and then they let you know exactly who they are at the last minute. ‘I’m from the guild of the golden duck, now you will die!’ It’s always like that. How do you think they ever get hired? Can’t stay a secret if you need the work. I met one once who just introduced himself. Right there and then, told me his name. Fool.” Lilian thought he was taking the whole event extremely lightly, this did help her to calm down somewhat. Just then, she turned towards a sound coming from the staircase. She stood up and braced herself for a second wave when she recognised it to be the clinking of cutlery on a tray. Mr Stepson slowly appeared through the floor and was so focused on not dropping anything that he didn’t notice any signs of the struggle until he reached the floor of the tower room at which point he looked up and dropped the tray.
“Goodness Gods!” he bellowed, “What has happened?” His surprise quickly turned to anger as his eyes fell on Lilian. Attorcop however interrupted him.
“Not to worry Stepson. I’ll have everything cleaned and replaced. All my fault really, I was showing young Lilian here a dance move I learned in Freedos and I spectacularly misjudged my surroundings. All of my apologies.” Mr Stepson seemed as quick to calm as he was to anger as he instantly muttered something about brooms and slippery floorboards and disappeared downstairs. A silence followed his departure. Lilian looked over to Mr Attorcop and saw him standing still in thought. He glanced back at the debris and the broken window, and for an instant, Lilian thought she caught a glimpse of something very real. His face was relaxed and the weight of many years of stress seemed to pull down his cheeks. Lilian had never considered him to be an old man but suddenly she saw someone who was perhaps not old enough to stop working but certainly too old to put up with attempts on his life. Lilian realised that his jokes about dancing and fighting off ridiculous killers were probably for her benefit. Mr Attorcop was visibly shaken. In another instant though he regained his composure and turned to her. He spoke softly and clearly.
“Lilian. I am so so sorry. I truly wish you never to come to harm and it appears as though staying by my side might lead to just that. I would understand if you no longer wished to work with me. Please send my apologies to your parents.” With that he turned back to picking up parchment from the floor and arranging the sheets on his desk. Lilian stepped towards the staircase in silence. She was about to start walking down the spiral flight, she even placed her right foot on the top step, when she stopped and looked back.
“When I was 6,” She began, catching Attorcop’s attention, “a few of the town children were playing in the river. When the sun went down we all started heading home when we realised that one of boys, Bjor, wasn’t with us. We shouted and shouted and spent ages looking for him but he never showed up. He must have fallen and hit his head on a rock or something because they found him a few days later downstream. He was only 5.” Mr Attorcop’s expression did not change, he was listening intently, “What I’m trying to say is,” Lilian continued, “Is that he was surrounded by people who loved him and he was just playing, something that all children do and he got into a horrible accident. It can happen to any of us, anytime so… me not working with you is not a guarantee of being safe. So if it’s all the same, I would still like to help.” Mr Attorcop’s eyes widened,
“Are you sure? You saw what just happened, someone broke in here and tried to kill me.”
“Yeah, and you stopped them, so if you promise to teach me how to fight like you, that means we’ll be able to protect each other. Right?” Mr Attorcop thought for a second, then started shaking his head. “Lilian I can’t…”
“Right?” She interrupted him and he understood that she wasn’t giving him a choice.
“Right. Thank you. I think that’ll be all for today. I appreciate your sentiment but take the rest of the day to really think about whether or not this is what you want. If it is then be here tomorrow morning and we’ll start your training. I suggest we split our days in two for the next few weeks, training in the morning, working in the afternoon.” This plan of action put a smile on Lilian’s face and she turned to leave. The room was almost out of sight when a sudden thought stopped her in her tracks. She raised her head above the floor and caught Attorcop’s attention a final time before leaving.
“Oh, Mr Attorcop? What did those hairs we found belong to?” Mr Attorcop looked at her with a very confused expression, like he had no clue what she was talking about, suddenly though he remembered.
“Oh yes! Feinhound.”
Later that evening, Lilian and her family were sitting at their kitchen table eating dinner. “A what?” Shouted Kilde who had been invited on Lilian’s way back from the Thoreson house.
“A Feinhound.” Lilian repeated herself. A silence fell on the kitchen as everyone furrowed their brows and tried to think if they’d heard the word before. Kilde was chewing a large carrot he’d found in his stew when he asked, “He didn’t say what it is? He just told you its name?”
“Yes.” Replied Lilian, she hadn’t told any of them about the attack and after all the chaos and threat, these animal hairs weren’t really her main concern.
“Why didn’t you ask him?” Lilian’s Dad spoke between mouthfuls of bread.
“He was busy alright? I’ll ask him next time I see him, I think he just thought I knew what it was and went back to his work.” Kilde looked disappointed. He seemed upset that they were not really any further in solving the mystery. He was about to ask another question when Lilian’s Mum cut him off.
“Did you ask him about his work? What do you think you’ll be doing together?” At this Lilian’s stomach dipped, with all the excitement of the fur discovery and the attack she still hadn’t told Kilde about her decision. She avoided looking at him as he looked up quickly.
“What work?”
“Oh I’m sorry, I thought you knew. Lilian has agreed to help Mr Attorcop with his research. Speaking of, did you manage to find out what he’s doing exactly?” Lilian couldn’t bring herself to look at Kilde, but she could tell from the corner of her eye that he was shocked.
“Not really. I think it’s quite secret so even if he told me I don’t think I’d be allowed to say. I think I’ll mostly be making him cups of tea or sorting out parchment.” Lilian’s Mum seemed satisfied.
“Well it’s a good start! And I’m sure he’ll let you know eventually what it is he’s doing up in Benlunar. I haven’t seen him at any of the walks or meals organised for the other city folk.” Lilian had finished her food and was starting to clear away the plates. Her mother chatted on about a friend of hers who once worked with a governor of a nearby city, but Lilian wasn’t really paying attention. Kilde had asked no questions and was avoiding her eye. At the end of the night when Lilian was showing him to the door he finally turned to her outside and mumbled a low ‘good bye’.
“What’s wrong with you?” Asked Lilian, annoyed that her friend didn’t seem happy for her.
“Nothing…” He said, but Lilian crossed her arms by way of reply. “I mean, when were you going to tell me?”
“I don’t know,” she replied, “I was going to say something today but we got so caught up with the search and stuff. Anyway it’s not a big deal.” Kilde looked cross.
“It IS,” he said, “Your mum said you might be going to work in Freedos, that means you’re leaving Benlunar and I won’t see you.” Lilian felt an urge to contradict him, to tell him that he was wrong like she usually did, but she couldn’t seem to find the words because this time, he was right.
“I know.” She said finally. “And I’m sorry Kilde. I am. I love Benlunar, I love it when we’re playing by the river, or when we’re running through the streets, or when we’re eating pies in the square. But I’m not with you all the time, and when I’m not with you then… I don’t like Benlunar very much at all. I hate school, everyone is always asking me if I can help them with something boring or stupid, and I’ve been fighting with my parents and when I met Mr Attorcop that kind of stopped. He’s nice and he’s clever he’s, well he’s like you if you were an old man.” Lilian caught Kilde looking away, a glint of moonlight catching a tear in his eye.
“You’re an old man.” He sniffed and Lilian smiled. She hugged him tightly and then let him go. As he slowly began to walk away Lilian felt a wrenching pain in her stomach. If she made Kilde as happy as Kilde made her then she understood how sad he must be feeling in this instant. She wanted to burst into tears but decided that she had cried enough and that she could still make him smile once more before leaving.
“Kilde!” She shouted out and he turned around, “Before I go, we’re going to find it.” Kilde looked confused and bleary eyed.
“Find what?” he spluttered.
“The Feinhound.”
The next morning Lilian was up at dawn. She had no idea what to wear for her first day of training, she didn’t even know what training she would be doing. Magic? She wondered, in which case she might wear her strong sheepskin jacket, or would she be learning how to use a sword? That would undoubtedly require a more movable fabric. All this was made more complicated when she realised that she wanted to look smart, dress formally, like Mr Attorcop did, but none of her current clothes were particularly fancy. Finally she settled on cotton trousers and a patchwork, wool shirt. They were both old and so it didn’t matter if they got damaged, but were also colourful and rather dapper, by Benlunar standards anyway. As she sat at the kitchen table, shovelling oats and milk into her mouth, she thought back to the promise she’d made last night. Had she done the right thing? The smile on Kilde’s face when she said they would find the Feinhound together was a site she would never forget. It was like she’d told him that he could have a magic puppy that granted wishes when you stroked its belly. But what if Mr Attorcop had plans for them to leave the city tomorrow? Or even today? She decided to devote every second she was not helping Mr Attorcop, to tracking and finding the Feinhound. She breathed out a loud sigh over her bowl as she felt her stomach sink, she didn’t even know what a Feinhound looked like, let alone how to track one. Pushing these worries to one side she opened her kitchen door to a grey morning. Mist hung in the air and obscured her view of the path to town. Lilian felt nervous, ever since the attack she had been checking every corner and window. Every time she saw a small movement out of the corner of her eye she would spin to check it wasn’t a silent assassin come to finish the job. She reminded herself that the stranger had clearly been after Mr Attorcop, but this did little to calm her nerves as she began to walk towards the centre of town. They may have been after Attorcop, she thought, but they’re probably not too happy with the young woman who foiled their plan.
When Lilian reached the Thoreson house, she saw Mr Attorcop talking with Mr Stepson on the steps leading up to the front door. Mr Attorcop was dressed in black, as usual, but he wasn’t wearing his night-sky cloak, instead he wore black cotton trousers and a black, sleeveless shirt with large toggle buttons. He looked strange in these comfortable clothes, Lilian had assumed from his usual attire that he always dressed to be able to drop everything at a moment’s notice and be ready for an audience with the Empress. As she approached Mr Attorcop turned and greeted her.
“Good morning Miss Lausanne. I trust you have eaten?” Lilian nodded, “Excellent, then we’ll get started. Mr Stepson has informed me of an area where we should be undisturbed.” Lilian smiled and Mr Stepson and he returned the greeting, bowing his head so low, Lilian worried he might fall down the steps. Mr Attorcop lead Lillian away from the town centre and up towards the mountain path. Lilian knew this walk well, she’d done it many times with her parents after a holiday meal, she understood why Mr Stepson had recommended this route. The road up to the peak was steep and rocky. After about 30 minutes walk the path ended and the two were forced to step from rock to rock. Lilian had noticed some time ago that Mr Attorcop instead of slowing down had been steadily increasing his pace. By now the two were almost jogging up the natural steps. Lilian was almost out of breath and having a hard time keeping up with the spry old man. An hour after they’d left the Stepson house they reached the first path marker. These were piles of stones left by travellers as signals to future walkers that they were on the right path. It was customary when walking past a path marker to pick up the nearest, flattest stone you could find and place it on top of the pile. Mr Attorcop must have known this because just before he reached it he bent down to pick up a flat piece of granite and placed it deftly on the pile. Lilian looked upwards to where the path lead up the mountain, normally she would be able to see the next path marker before the way turned a corner, but today the mist was obscuring it from sight. Attorcop saw her looking.
“Do you ever go to the top?” He asked, casually, seemingly not out of breath at all.
“I have.” Lilian spoke between gasps, up here the oxygen was very thin, “I have… been up twice… But you can only go… in the Summer. The snow is too dangerous in Winter or Spring.” Mr Attorcop paused for a moment and then took a step towards the edge of the path, he looked straight down the edge, past the path marker and studied the landscape under their feet.
“There it is.” He finally said to himself and started stepping over the path marker and bending down to tread on the sheer edge of the hill. There were still some trees on the slope and he seemed to be aiming for one to catch him as he slipped down the wet grass towards it. Lilian was nervous. She didn’t mind heights but she knew it wasn’t wise to stray from the path. Swallowing her fears she copied his movements step for step.
Mr Attorcop led them carefully down through the trees, Lilian was surprised to find that they were following a small animal track, hidden from view from the steps above. The track wound through trees and boulders and eventually opened out into a clearing. Lilian held her breath as she stepped onto a large open shelf on the side of the mountain, it was almost completely circular and was littered with sharp scree and stones, centuries of collected landslide material. Lilian couldn’t resist stepping to the very edge but all she could see were the trees below her disappearing into the mist.
“Why have we come here?” She asked, confused. There were plenty of spare rooms in town she thought. When Mr Attorcop didn’t answer she turned to see where he had gone. As she turned however she felt a sudden shock across her right cheek. Her hand instantly went up to where the pain had come from and it took her a second to understand what had happened. Mr Attorcop had slapped her, hard in the face.