Benlunar - Episode 5
Training begins!
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 reeled back in surprise. She was stood the edge of cliff shelf on the side of Benlunar mountain so she was conscious of not stepping too far back. Her cheek stung from having been slapped hard by Mr Attorcop who was still stood, brazenly in front of her holding his hands up and close to his chest. Lilian tried to speak through her shock,
“What are you doing? That hurt!” The pain and humiliation she felt at being slapped someone she considered a friend was causing anger to boil up inside of her, she could feel her face redden.
“We are up here to train you in the arts of self defense.” Said Mr Attorcop, as though that was answering her question.
“So!?” Shouted Lilian.
“So defend yourself.” Mr Attorcop pulled his hand backwards like he was preparing for another strike. Lilian flung her hands up in front of her and swung her head to the side in a desperate flinch.
“Stop, don’t move.” Mr Attorcop lowered his hands and stepped forward, Lilian tensed up but watched as he approached. “Look here, your fingers are spread wide, that’s bad.” He pushed Lilian’s fingers together so that her hands were open and curved, “If I can grab one finger then I can break it just as easily, keep your fingers closed and focus on knocking my hands away. Now your head.” He reached past Lilian’s outstretched arms and tilted her head back so that she was facing him directly.
“You turn away and you lose sight of your opponent. Face them always and keep your eyes open, even if you get hit, blinking only takes a moment but a moment is all some people need to get past your defenses. Now step forward to the centre here.” Mr Attorcop lead her to the centre of the circular shelf, it was a misty and damp day so the stones below her feet were damp and a slippery. As they walked, Attorcop continued, “Your surroundings are your biggest asset in any combat. See these stones, they’re sharp and they’re plentiful, you could easily reach down and grab a handful to throw. The edge of the cliff back there? That’s the end of a fight, the end of a life as well, always try and position yourself on the other side of your opponent to the most dangerous thing in the arena.” Lilian was taking as much information in as possible all the while keeping an eye on Mr Attorcop, should he decide to try and slap her again. When they reached the centre of the circle Attorcop turned towards her.
“What else might you use to your advantage right now?” Lilian thought and looked around for a moment. The shelf was empty except for stones and where normally she might be able to see further, the mist was obscuring her vision. This triggered a thought.
“The fog?” She proffered, mainly because it was the only thing she could see.
“Good.” Replied Attorcop. “If you ran into the mist your attacker might lose sight of you. Running is ALWAYS an option in any fight. You and I are outmatched so your best bet would be to use the mist and your speed to your advantage.” Lilian was confused. Is this really how she was supposed to defend herself against assassins? By running away? Attorcop must have read her expression, “The answer to the question you want to ask is yes. Running away is the best defense available. It creates distance between you and your attacker, it ends the fight and no one is harmed. What I want to teach you today and over the coming weeks, is what to do if running away is not an option. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” Lilian nodded.
“So what do you do if you think someone wants to hurt you?”
“I run away.”
“Excellent. You’re a fast learner, Miss Lausanne. Now put your hands up, I’m going to attempt to slap your other cheek.”
For the next few hours Lilian batted away wave after wave of slaps, punches and kicks. She didn’t always succeed and so felt her cheeks and arms beginning to sting from the relentless onslaught. Her arms were getting heavy with exhaustion and she was so focused on avoiding every attack that she didn’t notice the time slip by. Mr Attorcop on the other hand, did not seem to be tiring. He would surprise Lilian with attack after attack and each time she failed to defend herself correctly, he would calmly explain where she was going wrong and then repeat the move until she had mastered the correct defense. But Lilian noticed that the water droplets forming in his beard and on his bald head were not sweat, but just mist clinging to skin. Before the midday sun was all the way above them, the two sat to rest. Mr Attorcop passed Lilian skin of fresh water from which she drank deeply. As the two sat in silence, admiring the mist around them Lilian felt the surge of questions once again well up inside her. She was not normally an inquisitive person but Mr Attorcop was always so full of surprises, she felt herself constantly wanting to ask how he knew things, where he’d come from and what he was doing, she wanted to ask about the Feinhound, about the assassin about where he learned to fight but Mr Attorcop was normally so quiet and reserved she felt like asking him a personal question would be some kind of invasion of privacy. She had just spent the morning being assaulted though so Lilian thought he might owe her at least one answer.
“Mr Attorcop?” She spoke up in a soft voice, trying to sound casual. Attorcop turned his head to listen, “If you don’t mind me asking. What exactly is it you do? For a job I mean. It’s just that, my Mum was asking and I thought…” Lilian trailed off, chastising herself for hiding behind her Mother as an excuse for her own curiosity. Attorcop’s expression remained fixed but he turned his head to gaze out to the edge of the cliff. He seemed deep in thought. Finally he said, “Do you remember the conversation you heard me having in the town square on the day of my arrival?” Lilian did remember, she thought about telling him about her encounter with the man in orange but instead just nodded her head. Attorcop continued, “That man lives in the city, in Freedos, he works in the court of Empress Sylvia as part of her justice system. His role in the court is to judge those accused of crimes and sentence them appropriately, he also decides which cases should be brought to the attention of the Empress. He is a powerful man with much influence in the court. The day you saw us talking in the square he was complaining about rheumatism when he in fact had gout. I saw an opportunity to ingratiate myself with him by supplying him with a remedy of my own design I know fixes most ailments, including gout. Do you remember what I said when he asked what he owed me for the remedy?” Lilian thought back, she didn’t remember any money changing hands.
“Didn’t you just say you wanted to see him back in the city?”
“That’s right.” Said Attorcop.
“Sooo, you didn’t ask for payment?” Lilian wondered aloud.
“No Miss Lausanne, the chance to have an appointment set for any time I wish with a powerful man who owes me a favour. THAT was the payment I was seeking. I don’t really have a job in the traditional sense, but I make it my business to deal in power and influence. Someone might come to me and say that they want their son to be a general in the army. I might pull strings, call in favours and hold meetings until I can get their son into the most prestigious officer training school, where they will be on a fast track to becoming a general in a matter of years. I ask for payment upfront, that covers my lifestyle expenses and within 5 years I have a general in the state’s army who owes their entire career to me.” Attorcop upended the water skin and finished the last drop. Lilian was unsure what to make of this explanation. She furrowed her brow and asked, “So you work for the state?” At this Attorcop snapped his head back to look at her,
“No.” He said sharply, “I do not work for anyone. I have no political affiliation and I hold no guiding principles. If I meet a young Lord who supports the Empress I shall dress my room in her colours, if I have a favour asked of me from a woman who would see the Empress perish I shall inform her where to buy the best blades. This is how I always remain ahead.”
“Hold on,” Said Lilian, “so if someone hears that you’re working for the other side and accuses you, what do you do then?” At this Mr Attorcop smiled widely and stood up. He held a hand out to Lilian to help her up whilst maintaining the largest and most charming grin Lilian had ever seen,
“Young lady,” He said, overly sycophantic and far too sweetly, “Your enemies will say anything to impede your progress.” Lilian took his hand and stood up. She smiled at the remark,
“And people fall for that do they?” She said, remembering her own attempts to manipulate class mates into passing the blame on to someone else,
“Oh usually yes. The key is to make yourself indispensable. If someone truly believes you are their only key to achieving their goals, they will believe you because they want to believe you.” The two started making their way towards the mountain path. Lilian was pleased she was getting so much information out of Mr Attorcop, she let him speak rather than trying her luck with more questions. When the pair reached the path back to Benlunar Attorcop turned to Lilian with a more serious expression on his face,
“I trust you understand that my role in Freedos and my methods are to be kept a secret? I don’t wish to burden you with such a weight, it’s just that my life runs smoother if my methods are kept private.” Lilian smiled and nodded.
“Yes of course.” She then felt a pang of guilt as she remembered her interaction with the man in orange and his friends. She explained what had happened and Mr Attorcop thankfully smiled.
“Oh don’t worry about that. Those silly courtiers love nothing more than to gossip, I’m sure my taking on of a protege has got them stirred up more than rabbit in a carrot farm. In Freedos I’m relatively well known but seeing as my work is based on reputation, I like to control that where I can.” Lilian was about to ask how one might go about organising their own reputation when Mr Attorcop froze and put his hand out to stop her. Lilian looked up to see him staring straight ahead at where the path disappeared into the mist. Lilian held her breath. Suddenly, Mr Attorcop looked around sharply at the edges of the path, his eyes fell on a bush a little way off into the trees. He pushed Lilian towards it with urgency. She almost slipped on the damp leaves as she sped round a gnarled oak tree and ducked quickly behind the bush. Mr Attorcop dropped to the floor completely, being too tall to be able to crouch and not be seen from the path. The pair waited for some time, Lilian noticed a spider crawl across her foot, normally she would have batted it away, but she didn’t want to make a single sound. She only hoped that the spider did not crawl up her trouser leg. Jus then, through the smallest gap in the leaves, Lilian noticed movement, coming from the mountain path. She froze, and forgot all about spiders or insects on the forest floor. She wanted to see who was moving up ahead, but the leaves were obscuring her sight. She tried silently to move her head to the left, so that she could see more of the path. Luckily the leaves here were slightly further apart so she could actually see what was happening up ahead. The movement had ceased but Lilian could now see who it was that had made Mr Attorcop so nervous. The person on the path was tall and wore a dark hood, obscuring their face. Lilian breathed in sharply and felt a sudden and silent hand cover her mouth. Attorcop had caught her shock in time and was staring intently at the stranger. The assassin from the day before was standing a stone’s throw away from them and was now bending down to look at footprints in the soil. Lilian looked at Mr Attorcop as he slowly took his hand off her mouth. To her surprise he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Lilian’s heart was beating quickly and she couldn’t understand why Mr Attorcop was so calm. She looked back towards the path and saw that the stranger was looking in their direction. She wanted to shout again but noticed that their gaze went over their bush and off into the forest behind them. The looked back towards the mountain path, seemingly undecided as to which route to take. Lilian’s heart leapt into her throat as she watched the stranger take a slow step off the path and towards their hiding spot. Mr Attorcop was still calm next to her, his eyes closed as if in deep thought. Upon the second step towards them Lilian noticed something strange. The mist around them seemed to be thickening. With each step the stranger took, Lilian found it harder and harder to see them. After only 8 or 9 steps, the fog was so thick she could not even see her own fingers on the forest floor. Having lost the use of her sight Lilian listened intently. She could hear soft footsteps up ahead, she could hear her own heart beat and when she finally gave up on seeing entirely and closed her eyes, she could even hear the strangers breath, whistling through the cloth pulled up over their face. All she could do was focus on controlling her breathing so as to not make a sound. Finally, after what seemed like hours but was probably just a few seconds, she heard the strangers footsteps head back towards the path and away from them. She opened her eyes but the thick mist still hung around them, making it difficult to see even an arms length in front of her. Whilst she waited for instructions Mr Attorcop slowly came into focus through the fog, he motioned her to stand up quietly and lead her back round the oak tree and back on to the mountain path. They said nothing as they sped towards Benlunar, the fog slowly clearing as they went. Lilian couldn’t believe how lucky they had been for the fog to thicken when it did, but as they reach the Thoreson house near the town square, she wondered if it had had anything to with luck at all. Still saying nothing Attorcop lead her into the Thoreson house, past Mr Stepson who was snoozing on an armchair in the hallway and all the way up into the tower room. Lilian could tell that he was distracted, maybe even angry. When they emerged through the floor of Attorcop’s chambers Lilian saw that the mess from yesterday’s intrusion had been cleared but the window was still not fixed. There was a side table placed in front of it however, on top of which was a wire structure that looked like what you would put a kettle on to hold it in place over a fire. This was much smaller though and instead of a kettle, Lilian could see a vile of lunar essence suspended by the wire frame with its cap open. Out from the bottle and through the broken window came a steady stream of thick mist. Lilian approached in amazement. The bright liquid inside the vile was half empty but as Lilian watched she didn’t notice the essence depleting. Mr Attorcop was busily hunting through his draws and bags, looking for something. After opening the second trunk under his bed he paused and looked at Lilian.
“Miss Lausanne, it seems as though our work is being impeded, would you agree?” Lilian nodded.
“That was the same person as yesterday wasn’t it?” she asked.
“I assume so, although not having seen their face I can’t be sure. We must not presume there to be only one but for now it seems as though they are persistent in their task.”
“Mr Attorcop,” said Lilian, cautiously, “Why is someone trying to hurt you? Didn’t you say you help people?” Lilian’s voice cracked as she spoke, she’d been wanting to ask this since the attack yesterday and realised that Attorcop’s answer would influence her decision to work with him. Mr Attorcop stopped rummaging through his belongings and looked up. He was looking at Lilian with stoney expression. He walked over to where she standing beside the flowing mist and knelt down in front of her.
“I do help people Lilian. I help whenever and wherever I can. But not everyone agrees with the people I choose to help. Some people might see me helping someone they don’t like and assume I’m to blame for their suffering or ill treatment. They might hate me so much that they hire a hooded fool to climb towers and punch through windows.”
Lilian felt unsure. All she knew was that Mr Attorcop, aside from a surprise slap, had been kind to her and kind to her parents as well. She felt as though she trusted him and so couldn’t conceive of why someone would want to hurt him. She reminded herself then that she had known this man for less than a week. She felt as though her next question would help her make up her mind.
“So who do you think hired them? And why? Are they… bad people?” Mr Attorcop stood up and turned his attention to the whole room, he scanned every inch it whilst answering distractedly.
“First of all, I would try and avoid concepts such as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ when talking about people.”
“Why?” Asked Lilian.
“Because everyone thinks they are good. And all good actions might have bad consequences. Such is the nature of things. There is no ‘good’ or ‘bad’, there is only people’s interpretation of events.” He had begun looking through cupboards now, frantically opening and closing anything he couldn’t see inside.
“I don’t understand.” Lilian was becoming confused, and she knew that as soon as Attorcop found what he was looking for, the conversation would be over. “If you hurt someone, that’s bad.” She said, decidedly.
“Ahh yes, I would normally agree with you. But if I hadn’t hurt our hooded friend yesterday, he might have hurt you. So would you say that hurting them was good?” Mr Attorcop was now checking coat pockets.
“You could have asked him to stop, you didn’t HAVE to hurt him.” Lilian almost shouted. Her raised voice caused Mr Attorcop to pause and look at her.
“I was not ready to take that chance Lilian. I have been known to gamble but I will never, ever take a risk when it comes to your safety, do you understand?”
Lilian nodded. After witnessing everything this man could do, she realised that she might just be in the safest room in Benlunar. Lilian looked at her feet and pouted.
“I wish no one wanted to hurt anyone else.”
“A noble pursuit.” Replied Attorcop, “I think the key is just to cause the least amount of suffering possible, whilst simultaneously coming to terms with the fact that any action will undoubtedly cause suffering of some kind ah ha!” Attorcop yelped in delight. His hand was in a side pocket of a stachel that was currently hanging on the back of his desk chair. He pulled his arm back to reveal a small white stone, roughly the size of an egg.
“Is that chalk?” Asked Lilian, unimpressed by the discovery.
“Very good Miss Lausanne, you’re correct, but this is not just any chalk that you might pick up whilst wandering the coast of Zandt, no no. You remember whether you asked me if I was practising witchcraft?” Lilian nodded, “well were I to practise witchcraft then this is what I would use to do it. This and a lot chanting, as I said before.”
“What are you going to do with it?” Lilian held out her hand to take the chalk and Attorcop gave it to her as he breezed past to go and pick up some papers from the side board. It felt strangely heavy in Lilian’s hand and when she looked closely at, she saw that it was littered with small streaks that shone when they caught the light. Like tiny veins made of topaz.
“Well it seems as though our strange friend is determined on carrying out their mission no matter the cost, so instead of avoiding them, hiding in bushes and weaving detection mist, I think we should practise our art.” Lilian watched as Attorcop snatched the vile of essence by the window with his free hand, almost immediately the cloud of fog bursting out of it started to go in reverse. The mist that had covered Benlunar all morning was being sucked back in to the little vile at an alarming speed. When the view was as clear as the day before Attorcop shut the cap with a click and went about his business as if nothing had happened. Lilian had to remind herself to blink as her eyes, wide in amazement were beginning to dry out. Attorcop whipped the vile back into his sleeve and turned to Lilian.
“Tomorrow morning, we reverse the roles. I’m supposed to be teaching you about the art of power, well I don’t like being hunted like a feeble rabbit, do you? Of course not. So what do we do when wolves are at our doorstep?” He grabbed the chalk from Lilian and held it in front of his eyes, they were alight with mad kind of excitement. Lilian wasn’t sure if she was supposed to answer the question.
“We shut the door…?” Attorcop glanced down at her.
“We set the traps.”
That evening Lilian was sitting in the Fox & Octopus with Kilde, drinking a large glass of Xander’s famous Blackberry Fire. An extremely sour and fizzy drink that Lilian loved. Her parents were sitting with friends at a table near the beer taps and Lilian was chatting with kilde in one of the booths. She had left Mr Attorcop to prepare his hair brained scheme and, as she had promised, had spent the rest of the afternoon looking for anymore signs of the Feinhound with Kilde. Unfortunately, they had had no luck, and were now discussing tactics over a quiet, non-alcoholic, drink. The rest of the Inn was populated with several Benlunar locals, as well as Xander & Liny of course who were busy serving a small group of city folk.
“Are we going about this in the best way?” Kilde was almost whispering, not wanting to be overheard, lest anyone should steal the hunt for themselves.
“What do you mean?” Said Lilian.
“Well, I’m not sure just going out and about and looking for it is going to work. Like today, we went back to the river, up round the back of your house and then through the woods to town right?” Lilian nodded, scrunching her face up from the sourness of her drink. “Well if we do a different part of town tomorrow, then the feinhound might be where we searched today. We could look all over the place and never find it.” Lilian didn’t want to spoil the fun by saying that the most likely scenario was that the feinhound had moved on from Benlunar completely. Instead she asked, “So what do you suggest?” Kilde thought for a minute before replying. Lilian looked around the inn and felt a wave of tiredness wash over her. Her body was beginning to ache from that morning’s fight practise.
“I think we need to know more about it. Once we know what it eats and what it wants then we can put ourselves next to that and then just wait.” Lilian didn’t much like the sound of waiting around for something that might never show up, but she admitted that that probably was their best bet. She scanned the crowd in the Inn.
“So, who do you think knows about feinhounds in Benlunar?”
“You still haven’t asked whats-his-face, Smattershop?”
“Attorcop.”
“That’s the one.” Lilian grinned, Kilde definitely knew his name.
“No I haven’t. He’s… I dunno he’s always busy with something or other. Never feels like the right time.”
“Well…” Kilde caught her eye and jerked his head backwards, “There’s always…” Lilian shifted her weight on her chair so that she could look behind him. In the corner of the Inn, sat alone, except for his dog, was Ortan, the town trapper. His big brown beard flecked with grey hairs was damp where it had been dipped in beer. He was not talking to anyone, he just stared into his flagon and occasionally took a sip. Lilian sighed deeply and picked up her drink. Kilde beamed and stood up as. They both walked over to the Ortan’s table. They weren’t half way over when Ortan’s dog, Silky, looked up. Silky was a huge animal, her eyes drooped and her slobbery cheeks wobbled as she glanced up to greet the two young people coming over. If she had stood on her hind legs at that moment, she would have been able to put her paws on Lilian’s shoulders, but instead she just started wagging her tail. Kilde, a big fan of dogs, bent down to scratch her ears whilst Lilian shifted into the bench opposite Ortan. From this distance he reminded Lilian of a bear or some forgotten forest creature that was merely posing as a man. He said nothing at their approach but instead fixed Lilian with a silent stare, no smile behind the beard, and no frown beyond the eyebrows. Lilian didn’t flinch.
“We’d like to ask you something.” Lilian congratulated herself on her unwavering tone. She waited for some kind of reply but Ortan offered none. Lilian took this as a sign to continue, only now she lowered her voice so as not to be overheard.
“We know you know a lot about animals, and we were wondering.” Lilian faltered, was she going to be laughed at? Or would her question make this bear-man angry? Despite her doubts, she continued. “We were wondering if you could tell us about Feinhounds.” Kilde and Lilian waited with baited breath. Ortan looked at them both, one and then the other. When he spoke, tiny drops of beer flew from his beard and onto the table in front of him.
“What do you want to know?” Hi voice was coarse from years of straining through pipe smoke. Lilian looked at Kilde, she hadn’t actually planned this far ahead.
“Well… What are they?” She said. Ortan took a deep breath and looked from side to side, weighing his words before choosing the right ones.
“Feinhound, they are... dangerous.” Lilian waited, hoping her silence would prompt more information. After another sip, Ortan continued. “I’ve never seen one but sometimes you find deer in the mountain with claw scratches, like a lion, only there’s no lions in this country. So we say it’s Feinhound. But really this could mean anything. It’s like…” Ortan looked around the inn as if trying to find inspiration for a story, “Like finding a burnt tree and saying there was a dragon. It’s fun to say dragon, but it’s more likely to be lightning.”
At this, Kilde spoke up for the first time since joining them at the table. “So, they’re not real?” Lilian detected a hint of sadness in his tone. Ortan looked at him as if he’d only just noticed him sitting there. “Hmm not sure.”
“What do you mean?” Said Kilde.
“Well, something is killing those deer. It’s not me. It’s not wolves. And it’s not lion.”
Lilian and Kilde sat in silence for a time. Both of their imaginations were running wild. Ortan didn’t seem to mind the questions or the silence and Lilian paused to wonder at what an odd group they must look like. Finally Kilde spoke up.
“I have a question.” Ortan and Lilian turned to him, expectantly. “If you saw something that you thought was a Feinhound, what would that thing look like?” At this Ortan thought long and hard. At least that’s what it looked like, Lilian did wonder if the amount of beer he’d drunk wasn’t just slowing him down a bit.
“Well, like I say, I’ve never seen one. But my Father told me a story about one when I was young like you.” Kilde’s eyes were as wide as dinner plates.
“Can we hear the story?” he asked. Ortan thought for a second. He shifted his weight in his chair, creaking the leather of his many belts and straps. To their right, Liny threw another log on the fire and the sparks reflected brightly in the grizzled man’s eyes. For the first time, he smiled as he cast his mind back to his childhood.
“I can tell you.” He said softly, “but you must promise one thing.”
“What?” Said Lilian.
“To listen.”