Benlunar - Episode 17
Leaving Hundsberg.
The Roads of Alicium run through it like veins
From small paths down mountains to city built lanes
They’ll guide you home or take you away
Or make you visit village that begs you to stay
Up through the pass, down through the grass
Stick to your map, veer not from the path
Or perhaps take an unfamiliar bend
After all, the aim of the song is the tune not the end
A jolt of pain shot out from Lilian’s neck as she was pulled backwards. She breathed in a large gulp of air in shock as her head was jerked back, the hand over her mouth smelled of earth and animal. Her instinct was to struggle, but whoever held her was strong and had a firm grip. The sound of the rain drowned out her panicked footsteps and the other people on the deck where she had been standing, all had their hoods up and so had not noticed her being dragged away. Her heart was beating quickly and she tried to shove her left elbow into her assailant’s solar plexus, that weak spot below the centre of the ribcage which, when struck, knocks the air from your lungs. She felt her elbow connect and she heard a sickened grunt but the hit just seemed to strengthen her attacker’s resolve and their grip tightened on her face and body.
Mr Attorcop was scanning the crowd to see if he could find Lilian. The rain had made everyone put their damn hoods up so he had to shift and turn to peer into each one as he passed. He worried that the man who’d given him the red dog and the dark green cloak was going to realise what he was doing, but he had to risk it, Lilian’s safety was his priority, the rest would take care of itself. The dog was playing its part brilliantly. Mr Attorcop guessed that it had been trained to follow various masters. He pushed his way through the crowd checking hoods as he went and when he reached the stage he looked up and made eye-contact with Zinnia. She was standing heads and shoulders above the other townsfolk. Her dog Otto was sitting by her side, a thin line of drool falling from his jowls onto the wooden platform they were standing on. Zinnia continued to address the crowd in her native language. Mr Attorcop crossed his fingers and prayed to several gods that she had found the note he had hidden for her earlier that day. He had had to write quickly and mainly rely on guesswork, but his intuitions had been mostly correct. The one contingent he had not forseen had been the man’s eagerness to use Lilian as collateral, hence his current desire to check on her safety. Her absence from the crowd was not a good sign. But Zinnia’s lingering eye-contact was and Mr Attorcop took it as confirmation that the note with his instructions had been found. And so he leapt into action. He jumped onto the platform and drew the blade he had been given. He made sure not to turn around and show his face to the crowd whilst still letting them see the knife. He was happy to hear a loud gasp coming from the people in the square. Dogs began to bark and people shouted at him to stop, but Mr Attorcop was already mid swing. The knife rushed up towards Zinnia’s chest but she was ready for it. Her leather braced forearms came down to meet his wrist and the blow was believably blocked. Otto was being distracted by the red dog so that he could not interfere with Mr Attorcop’s plan. He brought the knife back and twisted round for another attack, he made sure not to do any feints or illusions as he would normally in a fight such as this, it had to look believable but not genuinely dangerous. It was a tough balance but Zinnia played her part to perfection. After blocking his second attack she even let herself be hit by Mr Attorcop’s left hook. This put the crowd into a panic and several people started clambering up onto the platform in the hopes of putting a stop to the fight. Mr Attorcop took the opportunity of turning and kicking them off to glance into the crowd once more in order to check for Lilian, finally, after the third cloaked figure was pushed off into a puddle on the increasingly wet floor, he saw her. She was struggling in the shadows of an awning, a man’s hand was gripping her mouth and for a split second he worried, but then saw something that convinced that she would be safe.
Lilian, for her part, did not feel safe. She had seen how the crowd had become distracted and saw quick flashes of movement coming from the stage. She heard dogs barking and people shouting and felt herself beginning to panic. This sensation triggered her training and she quickly realised that panicking was not going to help her. She needed to regain control and pick what aspects of the situation she wanted to use. She took a second to take a deep breath and assess her surrounding. Struggling against the grip had proved useless, but if her attacker had wanted her dead she would have felt a blade in her back by now. She decided to spend her energy on figuring out why this was the case. Instead of struggling to free herself she relaxed her body and tried to twist her head to get a look at her attacker’s free arm. It took some doing but by bringing her chin to her chest and looking down to her left she was able to catch a glimpse as to what was happening to her side. It seemed that her attacker had more to contend with than just Lilian struggling against his grip. The first thing she saw was the knife, clean and short, the kind you might find in a workshop or building site. Next she saw Fritha’s large cat-like eyes, despite the dim light of the evening they shone like candle flames and Lilian could have sworn they were illuminating the hand that was holding the knife. The same hand that Fritha’s large teeth were currently buried in. Lilian saw blood trickling down the wrist and into the attacker’s sleeve. It was a marvel that they had not cried out in pain this whole time. Fritha was growling in her low clunking way, sounding like a stick being dragged along a metal gate. Her coat was dark and purple making her body blend into the shadows that surrounded her. Only her eyes were clearly visible and they continued to burn brightly. Lilian was tracking their movement and waiting for an opportunity. When she saw Fritha yank her head back in a particularly vicious attempt to get the knife away, Lilian saw her opportunity. She felt her attacker’s balance shift and she forced her weight round so as to push them off balance even further. She felt their step move to compensate and she took advantage of their distraction. Lilian rammed her right elbow into their ribs and forced herself under the arm that held her. Instead of kicking and running however she span round and used the momentum of the spin to bring her right fist quickly up and into her attacker’s chin. Lilian managed to see Bardat’s eyes widen in surprise just before her knuckles connected with his jaw. The speed of the punch had been enough to disorientate him and a final pull from Fritha dragged him to the ground with a heavy thud. He dropped the knife as he fell and Lilian kicked it away. A young man who was standing on the deck looked down as the handle hit his boot. This was enough for him to catch the commotion out of the corner of his eye and he tapped his friend on the shoulder and shouted something in his native language. They pulled Lilian away and held Bardat on the floor with his arm twisted behind his back. Lilian saw that Bardat’s dog had been sitting a few feet away, confused and shaking not wanting his master hurt, but never hearing the order to defend him. Lilian didn’t struggle against the men who pulled her away from him, she knew they would understand once everything had been explained. Instead she called Fritha to her side and looked up to see if she could see the stage. She was taken aback by what she found. The man with the red dog was standing on the stage, frozen in place with a knife to Zinnia’s throat. Zinnia was not moving and it seemed as though he might drag his knife across her throat at any second. But no such thing happened. The people in the crowd were scared to approach any further, worried that the desperate man would do something drastic if they moved too quickly or unpredictably. To Lilian’s amazement the man turned to look at the crowd and she saw Mr Attorcop’s familiar face beneath the hood. Had he betrayed her, she wondered? Had he finally succumbed to madness? And why wasn’t he moving? His eyes seemed to be scanning the crowd as if looking for some reason to cut Zinnia’s throat. Lilian looked at Zinnia’s face and found it to be strangely calm. She too was looking into the crowd, rather than directly at her attacker. Lilian followed their gaze across the sea of confused and scared townsfolk. Her eye was drawn to a commotion at the back of the square. Three men and their dogs were struggling to subdue a fourth man. In the commotion his hood and mask slipped off to reveal a sharp, angular face that Lilian did not recognise. But his eyes, they were familiar. They were the eyes she had seen several nights ago when she had fought him and the red dog in the alleyway. She had assumed that Mr Attorcop had been that man because the dog had been following him, could dogs be trained to follow other masters? Other people were now turning to watch the struggle. The man began to shout in protest, Lilian couldn’t understand his words but they did not seem kind. He flailed and punched wildly trying to escape but one of the men held his cloak in a tight grip and had instructed his black and white dog to do the same. Distracted, the man did not see a leather gloved fist from one his attackers swing round and it connected with his cheek knocking him into a daze. The man struggled to find his balance and his three attackers took the opportunity to twist his arms behind his back and tie his wrists together with rope. The crowd gasped as a long knife was taken from the man’s belt. Lilian turned back to the stage, Mr Attorcop had dropped his knife and was standing behind Zinnia. Once the man had been secured Zinnia spoke up, this time Lilian could understand her.
“I’m sorry everyone for the confusion. This attack on my life was planned by this man.” She gestured over the crowd to the man that had just been captured.
“Our dear friend here,” Zinnia continued, turning back to Mr Attorcop, “Warned me that something would happen today. So when he attacked I knew I had to play along. Meanwhile we’ve managed to capture the one responsible for those hateful messages and before he could do any real damage.” At this point, Lilian spoke up.
“He wasn’t alone!” She cried out. Many people turned to look at her and she drew their attention to Bardat who was still struggling against the strength of his captors, one of which brandished his knife in the air. Mr Attorcop’s voice pierced the growing murmurs.
“I believe there were probably others. It seems to me as though Hundsberg has things to discuss and changes to make. For now, please all go about your business.” It seemed as though he was about to say more when a shout came from the captured man at the back of the crowd. He’d used the distraction to shove one of the guards aside and break free. His arms were still tied so he had difficulty balancing as he stepped back.
“You’re all making a mistake. I love this town and I will do whatever it takes to save it. She is going to suffocate us.” Lilian saw tears streaming down his eyes. He almost tripped whilst backing away and caught himself in time to turn on his heal and begin to run. His dog, loyal to the end, distracted the guards by biting one of them on the leg. The man was not 5 seconds gone however when a bolt of brown fur flew from the crowd, jumped up and knocked him down to the ground. Leonardo’s jaws were poised over the man’s throat awaiting the order from Stephanie who was walking calmly out of the audience. Lilian watched the man shake with fear as Stephanie approached, moved Leonardo aside and hoisted the man to his feet in one swift motion. The crowd were dispersing slowly and she frog marched the sharp faced man to the stage where Zinnia and Mr Attorcop were still standing.
“Take him to the Kreis Hutte, and tie him up.” Zinnia spoke in a low and serious tone. Stephanie set off with the three guards following closely behind. Bardat was taken too and Lilian breathed a sigh of relief now that the ordeal was over. She looked back at Mr Attorcop who seemed distracted. His attention had been taken from the sharp faced man and was being directed to the red dog that he’d left behind. Lilian almost laughed, imagining what might be going through his head. She knew him well enough by now to know that another mouth to feed was not something he would welcome happily. Lilian approached the stage with Fritha by her side. She noticed that the red dog was staring intently into the dispersing crowd. A man in an old soldier's jacket was standing still, the only one in the crowd not currently leaving the square. He was looking at the red dog still stood placidly next to Mr Attorcop. Lilian couldn’t discern the look on his face but she noticed that he had no dog by his side. The man’s eyes glistened beneath his hood. He crouched down and began beckoning the red dog to him. It did not move. It looked at him and then looked away.
“She won’t come.” Mr Attorcop spoke loudly over the rain. The old soldier stood up.
“She’s my dog. Her name is Cleo.” Mr Attorcop narrowed his eyes and stepped off the wooden stage. The dog remained.
“She won’t come, Siegfried.” The old soldier’s fist began to clench and shake.
“She is my dog and I want her home now.” Mr Attorcop lowered his voice and stood very close to him.
“You can shout and scream all you like. But you betrayed her and she will never forgive you. You don’t deserve her.” With that he walked past the soldier, raised his left hand and clicked his fingers. Cleo the red dog sprang forward and leapt off the stage and ran to Mr Attorcop’s side without giving Siegfried a second glance.
Later, in Hunderberg’s central hut Lilian sat on a wooden stool with Fritha by her side watching the deliberations. She discovered that the sharp faced man who had attacked her several nights ago was called Milian. He had been a scout like Stephanie and Bardat but had disappeared months ago. The prevailing thought was that he had left the village or died out in the woods but Mr Attorcop explained how he must have been living under the old grave site since then. Guards were dispatched to retrieve the dogs from their cages there.
“You see, most people in Hundsberg wonder about with hoods and masks covering their faces,” Mr Attorcop was stood by the fire explaining his theories to the small crowd gathered in the hut. “This helps to protect you from the rain and wind isn’t a problem when everyone in town knows everyone else by their dog. Using various different dogs Mr Milian here was able to come in and out of town with his face masked but still disguised.” The small crowd murmured and nodded in understanding. Milian himself was close by, kneeling on the wooden floor and flanked by two burly looking guards and their large black and brown dogs. An elderly woman spoke up, Lilian recognised her as the woman who had given her the sour berry a few days ago which Fritha seemed to love so much. As an elder of Hundsberg she clearly held a position of respect in the community. Her voice was low and soft.
“Woher hat er die hunde?” Mr Attorcop looked at Zinnia for a translation.
“Where did he get the dogs?” She asked.
“Ah. Well it’s not uncommon to see people in Hundsberg without a dog, albeit a little strange. I believe that he managed to convince others of his cause and persuaded them to let him use their dogs in return for some reward.” At this, Bardat, who was similarly tied and guarded spoke up.
“There was no reward. Only the promise of actual change.” His mask had been taken off and Lilian saw his youthful face was red with anger. Zinnia’s eyes narrowed at the comment. She breathed deeply and a silence fell upon the room. Lilian’s head was spinning with information and she felt that she could no longer hold her tongue.
“Ms Zinnia.” She said softly. Zinnia looked up at her along with everyone else in the room, even a few of the dogs turned their heads. Lilian took their silence as permission to speak.
“I don’t want to overstep my welcome, I know my uncle and I are outsiders here. But I don’t think that everyone that Milian had helping him, knew what he was planning to do. The people of Hunderberg clearly respect you a lot but…” Lilian was having trouble choosing her words properly. Zinnia gestured for her to continue.
“It’s okay Amilia. I’m a grown woman, you will not hurt my feelings.” A few people in the crowd smiled. Lilian appreciated the comment, but nevertheless was finding it hard to say what she wanted. Suddenly, she felt a warmth and feeling of comfort overcome her, it gave her the confidence she needed to speak clearly.
“I think there are a lot of people who see Hundsberg’s potential.” Lilian caught Stephanie’s eyes and she smiled. “I think people see the quality of your food, of the things you make of the skills you have and they think, you know, why aren’t we sharing this with the world? I think they feel like Hundsberg is scared to change and they are scared that Hundsberg is suffering.” At this, an older man sat on Zinnia’s left side spoke.
“These young people don’t understand. I was a boy when the red plague was killing thousands, I saw the outside world ravaged by war and by the greed of the expanding empire. Through all of this, Hundsberg has been safe and untouched. Yes, now we have relative peace in Alicium but what if another war breaks out? Hm? One raid and Hundsberg is wiped out!” There were murmurs of agreement, mainly from the older folk in the room. Zinnia stayed silent. Stephanie rolled her eyes and stood up.
“You think we are not in danger just because we stay hidden in the forest? Look at what has happened today!” She raised her voice and an excited Leonardo began to bark. Stephanie calmed him by sitting back down and scratching his ears.
“We cannot escape danger as a community no matter what choices we make. I think there must be ways that we can slowly introduce change and see how it goes. No one is forcing everyone in Hundsberg to leave their homes tonight.” Zinnia unfolded her arms.
“What do you suggest?” At this Stephanie shook her head and looked back at Lilian. Lilian was equally unsure.
“I have a few ideas.” said Mr Attorcop. All eyes turned back to him, he was sitting on a bench with the red dog by his feet. Lilian was enjoying this new found forced friendship. It certainly made everything Mr Attorcop did, a little less serious.
“My niece and I passed an inn before entering the forest. Many people stop there before journeying through the valley or into the hills. It also crosses a road that leads to Freedos. I suggest taking some of the fine pelts and leather goods you make here and selling them at the crossroads. You could probably also sell the sweet drink you make to the inn for extra income. I say you use the money to buy a cart and start trading to the surrounding area. There will always be dangers on the road and there are whispers of a renewed conflict with Doma but I’ve seen how competently Hundsberg scouts can fight, I shouldn’t think you need to worry.” Stephanie was beaming at the suggestions.
“Yes! And then next year we can build something nearer the road so we don’t have to travel too far to trade.”
“And if that works,” added Lilian, “people might slowly start living there and that could be a second Hundsberg, or even a new town entirely.” The expressions around the room betrayed a multitude of reactions. Some faces were worried, others were hopeful. A couple were angry but only Zinnia’s face was calm and collected. She looked over to the guards and spoke a sharp sentence in her native tongue. Milian and Bardat were hoisted to their feet and marched out of the hut, presumably to be locked away until their fate was decided. Zinnia turned to the assembly.
“When you and your uncle arrived here with Fritha the Angsthund, I knew there would be changes to come.” Lilian felt nervous to be addressed in front of all these people, as if the fate of Hundsberg was resting on her shoulders, “Change is like a river.” Zinnia continued, “You cannot stop it from flowing, but with some effort you can direct where it goes. I like this idea of trading on the main road. We will gather our best goods and start next week. But we focus on fixing the problems we have in Hundsberg before building anything new.” Lilian looked around the room. Stephanie was smiling and excitedly looking at her friends. Several of the older folk were scowling but Lilian was beginning to understand their trepidations. She thought about Benlunar and the amount of worry there must have been when they decided to allow tourists to visit. Occasionally they do cause trouble, but she didn’t think anyone would admit to it being a bad decision these days. A few people got up and slowly people started leaving. Elders would clasp Zinnia’s hands and whisper warnings or good wishes. Stephanie stood up and hugged Lilian.
“Thank you for speaking and for saying what you did. Were you nervous?” She asked.
“At first.” Replied Lilian.
“But then let me guess. You became relaxed and it didn’t seem too bad.” Lilian was taken aback.
“Well. Yes, sort of. How did you…”
“I was watching you.” Said Stephanie with a cheeky grin. “When you began to speak your hand reached out. Have you not noticed what’s happening?” Her eyes darted down to Lilian’s side. Lilian looked and found the source of the warmth she had been experiencing. Absentmindedly, her hand was resting on the side of Fritha’s neck. Her fur was soft and reassuring. Lilian was surprised. She must have been stroking her for some time now, and Fritha was sat still and serene her eyes closed seemingly enjoying the sensation. Each time Lilian caressed her fur it would leave a glowing orange patch, which shone against the deep purple colouring Fritha was currently wearing. Lilian smiled and looked back at Stephanie.
“I think you have a friend for life here now Amelia.”
“Are you talking about you or Fritha?” Said Lilian. Stephanie laughed.
“Both! Of course.”
Lilian and Mr Attorcop left Hundsberg the following day. Tears were shed and promises were made and gifts of food, drink and clothes were given to aid the pair in their travels. Lilian was given new smocks and shoes, all of the finest Hundsberg quality. Stephanie even Gave Lilian a large bag of the sour berries so that her training with Fritha could continue. Lilian thought she would see Fritha’s jaw drop when the bag was handed over. Her nose twitched something silly and her eyes were as wide as dinner plates.
“Please visit us when you come back through the forest.” Stephanie’s voice was muffled by Lilian’s hair as she hugged her tightly.
“Of course!” Replied Lilian. “And good luck with the new ventures, I can’t wait to see how Hundsberg changes in the next few weeks.” Lilian shook Zinnia’s hand and ruffled the ears of all the dogs she could see. Leonardo of course got some extra attention, but no so much as to make Fritha jealous. Mr Attorcop was a short distance away kneeling by a young boy. He was gesturing to the red dog that had not left his side for nearly 12 hours. The boys mother and father were looking on with quaint smiles as the young boy took the red dogs lead and fed him a treat. He turned back to his parents with a smile so wide Lilian thought his face must ache from it. Mr Attorcop approached her, his pack was heavy and he wore his new leather boots and a new blue shirt with white flowers sewn into the collar. He gestured towards the forest.
“Shall we Amelia?”
“You didn’t want to keep her?” Asked Lilian, teasing him.
“I think one hungry red haired lady per travelling party is quite enough.” He replied with a wry smile. Lilian feigned outrage as the two walked over the mud ridge, turning back occasionally to wave goodbye to the curious little town and its canine keeping kin. Lilian was sad to leave but delighted to have been shown the skills necessary to understand her own animal companion. Fritha sensed the move and rushed ahead excitedly displaying green and orange colours with each new smell she discovered. Lilian and Mr Attorcop spoke of their experiences. Mr Attorcop told her more details about Milian’s tomb base and the poor dogs he kept locked up there. He explained how he had left Zinnia a note hidden in Otto’s collar so that only she might find it.
“I knew he was going to want to try something drastic. He wouldn’t have trusted a stranger with anything he knew he could already achieve. He may have started with just writing on walls but I think Zinnia’s death had always been his goal.”
“But she’s an elected leader, wouldn’t her death have just put someone else in charge?” Asked Lillian as she avoided thick tree roots.
“Once people like Milian get an idea into their head, reason is the first thing to leave it. I led him to believe I sympathised with his cause because I wanted him to trust me with something dangerous. If he had been left alone he might have really hurt someone.”
“What would you have done if he hadn’t asked you to kill Zinnia?” Mr Attorcop paused for thought.
“I would have alerted the guards in the crowd. After ensuring your safety. Your inclusion in his plans was one thing I stupidly overlooked. But once I reached the stage and found you in the crowd I knew you would be safe.” Lilian remember how scared she had been with Bardat’s hand covering her mouth as she panicked.
“How could you know though? I didn’t know.” Mr Attorcop smiled and pointed to Fritha.
“I saw her standing behind you with that fellow’s hand in her mouth. She saved you that night in the alley and she was saving you then. I don’t know what she sees in you but I knew she wouldn’t let you come to harm. Besides, I’m an excellent instructor of the combative arts, I believed in my student.” Lilian felt a sense of pride. She had not received Mr Attorcop’s approval since the night she was attacked by Milian in the alley and she admitted to herself that she had missed it. No more reckless mistakes, she thought.
“There was one thing I have been meaning to discuss with you.” Lilian looked up at Mr Attorcop. “The night you went to catch Milian. You said you’d heard him whilst practising your focus exercise. Could you describe what happened exactly?” Lilian remembered the event vividly. She described to him how she had felt as though she was travelling through Hundsberg, how sounds as small as a mouse’s step became as vivid as images on canvas. It was hard to put into words as she could not sense colour or shape, but nonetheless she could explore Hundsberg without leaving the fireside. Mr Attorcop listened intently while they walked, asking few questions until he said,
“How far do you think you explored?” Lilian thought for a minute.
“I’m not really sure. But I could hear Milian’s paint can and I must have walked 10 minutes before I found him.”
“Was it different to other times you’ve practised your focusing?” This question was easier.
“Definitely,” She said.
“How?”
“Well, everything just seemed more vivid, like I was next to the sound, rather than just hearing it from far away.” Mr Attorcop nodded his head.
“Excellent.” He said, “From now on we practise focusing twice then. Once in the morning after breakfast, and again in the evening before sleep. All this on top of our regular defense and attack training as well as your new play sessions with Fritha.” Lilian cocked her head in a question.
“You’ll need to keep up what you learned in Hundsberg or Fritha will just go back to wondering aimlessly around us and all your progress will be lost.” Fritha was currently padding obediently beside Lilian and turned her head with each mention of her name. Lilian smiled and reached out to touch the back of her neck. Her fur was slick and a deep green colour. Lilian was pleased to hear that Mr Attorcop was taking their relationship more seriously and Lilian was glad to dedicate time each day to playing with and teaching her animal companion.
And so the journey continued. Each day they stuck to a rigorous routine of training that involved focus practise, fighting and playing. All of the new activities meant that travel time was limited but Lilian noticed that this didn’t seem to bother Mr Attorcop. He was content to take his time if it meant that training was going well. He was pleased with Lilian’s progress and by the end of their 2nd week on the road, he finally said the sentence Lilian didn’t even know she had been waiting all this time to hear.
“Right,” He said, “I think it’s about time I taught you some magic.”
Benlunar - Episode 16
A dog amongst pigeons.
The Roads of Alicium run through it like veins
From small paths down mountains to city built lanes
They’ll guide you home or take you away
Or make you visit village that begs you to stay
Up through the pass, down through the grass
Stick to your map, veer not from the path
Or perhaps take an unfamiliar bend
After all, the aim of the song is the tune not the end
Lilian was thoroughly enjoying her time in Hundsberg, the town in the woods where everyone kept a canine counterpart. She had spent nearly a week there, learning about its history and people and getting instruction from her friend Stephanie about how best to train Fritha, the Feinhound which to these people was an animal straight out of legend. She had become so accustomed to her false name ‘Amelia’ that she responded to it as quickly as Fritha did to one of her sour treats. She enjoyed observing the unique relationship each resident of Hundsberg had with their dog. Each dog seemed to be perfectly paired with its owner so as to serve some use in the town. Large dogs for example were paired with large and strong townsfolk who might have to pull carts or lift large bags of grain as part of their work. Smaller, more agile dogs were trained by their owners to hunt out mushrooms underground or even sniff out stolen goods or lost children. Stephanie and Leonardo were scouts, it was their job to act as a wall between Hundsberg and the rest of the world. They would keep an eye and nose out for intruders and patrol roads and countryside to dissuade travellers from getting too close. Lilian marvelled at the speed at which Leonardo would respond to Stephanie’s slightest signal. Her admiration, however, one day gave way to misgiving. She wondered if Leonardo was happy to constantly be obeying orders.
“What do you mean?” Asked Stephanie as she rubbed her stout pup on the belly. It was another sunny Summer’s day and they were out in the woods, training Fritha to find a hessian bag filled with lavender and herbs. They had hidden it in a particularly tough spot up a tree and Lilian was enjoying watching Fritha sniff around the forest floor.
“I mean, do you ever wonder if the dogs would be better off just being free to do as they pleased?” Stephanie laughed at this.
“Sometimes, but then I remember what this would mean in reality.”
“How so?” Asked Lilian as she watched Fritha find the base of the right tree but not yet figure out that she had to look up.
“Well, think about this. In just a few weeks his nails would grow too long for him to be able to walk easily. This mean he would have trouble hunting. Also, his teeth would get dirty if I didn’t clean them and so they might fall out. His hair would get matted if I did not cut it and this could infect his skin. I take care of him like he takes care of me. And as for the training…” She thought for a second gazing lovingly at her big browed brute, “If I did not train him he would always be fighting with other dogs, he would be a teenager without ever knowing that someone loved him enough to teach him how to be good. He would fight, he would test, he would get angry and he would get hurt. Do you hate your parents for teaching you to be kind and polite?” Lilian shook her head. “Well, then I don’t think he hates me for teaching him to be a good boy. And you are a good boy aren’t you Leonardo?” The dog barked a sharp and clear affirmation. Stephanie laughed.
“He is always surprising me with his kindness and humour.” Lilian had felt similar things about Fritha this past week, and wondered if they would ever have a relationship akin to that of Stephanie’s and Leonardo’s. Fritha had climbed on her hind legs and easily reached the hidden bag and was bringing it swiftly back to Lilian. This was met with much praise and a sour berry as a reward. Several happy chiming sounds came from Fritha as she munched the fruit.
“Ok,” Said Stephanie, “Now we hide it somewhere really hard!” Lilian looked around the woods for inspiration, clutching the sweet smelling bag after Fritha had dropped it at her feet. It was covered in sticky slobber and wet leaves but she didn’t mind, she was enjoying the game and wanted to put Frithas nose to the test. Just then, she spied a figure walking towards them through the trees. They were wearing a dark cloak and had a bald head.
“Isn’t that your uncle?” Said Stephanie, narrowing her eyes to see clearer. As the man approached, Lilian saw that it was indeed Mr Attorcop, who was posing her uncle while they were in Hundsberg. He When he was not too far away, he looked up and seemed surprised to see them. Lilian waved.
“Are you alright uncle?” She raised her voice to cover the distance.
“Oh yes,” He replied, “Just walking through the forest to gather my thoughts, beautiful day. Stephanie smile in reply but Lilian was confused. In the many months she’d known him this might have been the first time she heard Mr Attorcop comment on the weather. It was almost like he was a normal person. Or, she thought, doing his best imitation of a person who wanted to appear normal. They watched as he walked past them, not stopping to chat just walking straight ahead, deeper into the forest in a reassuringly strange fashion. The two young women stared at him as he went, striding confidently towards nothing in particular. Stephanie lowered her voice.
“Your uncle is a quite a bizarre man I think.” Lilian looked up at her.
“You have no idea.”
Of course Mr Attorcop had his own plan as to why he was walking through the woods that day, and he wasn’t about to waylaid by dog training sessions and he didn’t want to interrupt Lilian’s progress with that great shimmering beast. As he strode past them, he looked back down at the note in his left hand to double check he was following the instructions he had been given. The handwriting was very poor so twice now he had to hold the note up to the light to see if he did indeed need to be heading west, or was it east? No, no. Definitely west, even though no one in their right minds should be writing instructions down when their handwriting is this bad. West then, for nearly an hour, the right at the great oak and on until the, what is that word? Hillan mound? No. Hidden. Hidden mound.
“Very well.” Cromwell breathed out and strode forth. He tapped the vials of essence in his sleeve, just to make doubly sure they were still there. Over the years, this had become a force of habit but he was always glad when he found the Kerakis glass hidden in the folds of his cloak. He reminded himself that once all this wall writing nonsense was over he needed to get back to training Lilian. The mystery was however providing an amusing distraction while she got that strange creature under control. As his mind drifted to other projects and goals further down the line, he kicked conkers out of his path and admired the ancient trees around him. The forest was thick in this direction and several times he had to slow his pace to deal with obstructing vines and hedges. At one point, he got so frustrated with being tangled in sticky vines that he considered using the lunar blade but he concluded that it might be a little excessive. After some time he found what was unmistakably at the ‘great oak’ from the note. A beautiful old tree with a trunk lined and cracked from weathering the ages. Its branches reached up towards the forest canopy in a battle to beat younger trees to the sun and sky, frozen in time. He stopped and gazed at the oak for a while, wishing it all the best in its struggle. One last push, he thought. Then he turned and continued to follow the instructions until the ‘hidden mound’ made itself known. In the distance, he saw a swelling in the earth that wasn’t connected to any other hill or rock formation, it seemed to stick out of the ground like a bunion. It was not tall, the top reaching Cromwell chest. He thought it must be some sort of old burial mound, this would make sense considering its placement within the circle of trees. There was no stone to mark who was buried there, but it was possible that it would have been worn away many years ago. He walked around it twice and looked about to see if anyone had followed him or was observing from a distance. But there was no one. On his third pass around he noticed a dark patch in the leaves at the north facing base of the mound. Upon closer inspection, the discoloration was caused by a small, dark hole that had been crudely covered up by layers of leaves. He brushed a few aside and called out.
“Hello?” There was no answer, but he could tell by the quality of sound that the hole led into a larger area, under the mound. He briefly considered sticking his head inside it but then remembered that he was dealing with a population enamored with dogs and didn’t fancy getting his nose bitten off. He was sure that he had found the right place so he sat on the driest pile of leaves he could find and listened to the forest. He thought about returning to Freedos and a familiar feeling of anxiety filled his stomach. He had enjoyed his time away immensely but even he admitted that he had been putting off the inevitable for a little too long. Suddenly, he heard footsteps in the distance and opened his eyes to see who was joining him. As suspected, he saw the man from the inn, his hood up and cloth mask pulled tightly over his nose. Strangely, he didn’t have a dog with him. Cromwell was beginning to understand why dogless townsfolk from Hundsberg were avoided. They seemed, naked in some way. It was as if they had chosen loneliness as a way of life, and this didn’t make anyone desire their company, let alone their friendship. It was such a strange sight that Cromwell drew attention to it with his first question.
“Where’s your dog?” He asked, not wishing to waste time with introductions and formalities. The man came close and looked at Cromwell up and down before answering,
“Inside.” He gestured to the hole in the mound, his voice was muffled by the mask. Cromwell was unsure why he was even wearing it, it’s not like he would recognise him if he took it off. Without warning the man ducked and went head first into the hole. Cromwell sighed and realised that he would have to follow him. It was so muddy in this wood, he hated having to dirty his clothes anymore than he already had. He did not go head first, but instead put his feet in and lowered himself into the hole slowly. He kept one hand on a vial of essence just in cast this stranger decided to attack him. It was dark in the hole, not unexpectedly, and it stank of something sickly and terrible. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, the hooded man struck flint into a small brass bowl filled with thick liquid. The sparks ignited it and the hole was illuminated by the flickering flames. Cromwell found himself standing in a sizable room, if this had been a tomb it had been emptied long ago. There were shelves built into the walls with jars containing various herbs, tinctures and… as he had guessed, dark red liquid. There were some hogs hair brushes lying nearby and it became clear that this was some kind of base of operations. The hooded man went about checking various food supplies and bottles and it took Cromwell a while to notice the cages along the far wall. There were five in total and each one contained a very cramped and sad looking dog. Despite a stranger entering the room, despite him having been outside for some time, none of the dogs had made a sound. He noticed the red one from the inn and saw that its fur looked matted and scabbed. The other dogs were wide eyed and trembling. Cromwell noticed their ribs poking through their fur and crusted blood around their dry noses. He had never been a big lover of animals, but he had never hated them or treated them cruelly. Looking at the hooded figure going about his business while these dogs looked on, hopeless and devoted, he felt anger enter his mind. He welcomed the emotion but kept it in check. He had a job to do, and letting anger get in the way was not going to help.
“Why did you want to see me?” The man stopped and stared at him, placing a jar of what looked like honey to one side.
“You are the man who came with the Angsthund.” Cromwell waited. This didn’t seem to be a question so he stayed silent, drawing the information out of him.
“I think we can help each other. I heard you at Der Letzte Tropfen, you were saying you wanted the people of Hundsberg to leave. You were saying the writings on the wall were right. Why were you saying these things." Cromwell wanted to stay as guarded as possible.
"I have my reasons. Are you the one who's writing on the walls?" the man paused, considering Cromwell's vague answer before replying.
"Sometimes. But I'm not the only one who thinks these things."
"But you're the only one willing to do anything about it." the man's eyes widened at Cromwell's words. He stepped forward eagerly.
"Yes. One of them yes. Hundsberg used to be a proud town. Now we hide in the trees. We are no better than the dogs we keep. Hiding and cowering from the world."
"So you thought…" interrupted Cromwell, "That you would take it upon yourself to kick start a movement."
"A movement. An exodus. A revolution. Anything, the nature of change does not matter when change is all that is needed." The man was getting frantic. As he moved around the room in quick, erratic motions Cromwell caught sight of a knife handle protruding from a sheath in his belt. This wasn’t an uncommon site in Hundsberg, but its appearance here suddenly made Cromwell very aware of the confined space and single exit.
“What is your name sir?” He decided to try and distract the man from his feverish obsession with change, hopefully drawing him back to reality and the present moment. It worked for an instant when he froze and looked back at Cromwell, then cast a flashing glance at the dogs in their cages.
“My name is not important, my message is what people will remember.” His choice of words and his brief look at the dogs made something fall into place in the puzzle inside Cromwell’s head. The picture was becoming clearer. Just then, the man seemed to ready himself to take a risk, he breathed deeply and turned head on to look at Cromwell directly. Cromwell, shifted his feet, ready to defend himself if necessary.
“You have the Angsthund. The people of Hundsberg will listen to you. I heard you in Der Letzte Tropfen. I think you should help me. I want you to convince Zinnia and the elders to leave and start a new Hundsberg. I think we should start building near the river to the east.” He rummaged around in a box under a makeshift table and got out some parchment with a crude map on it. Cromwell recognised the shape of the river but noticed errors such as Hundsberg’s likely placing within the forest, as well as the position of the crossroads. He stabbed and pointed at various places on it.
“Here would also work because it is near the road.” He muttered under his breath in his native language considering different options. Cromwell had a suspicion forming in his mind. He decided to end the charade and get to the heart of the matter quickly.
“Yes I think I could help you. I can certainly try, but…” He sighed and made a show of some frustration, “They do seem to love the town as it is. What if they refuse to listen?” The hooded man turned slowly back from his map. Cromwell couldn’t be certain, but judging from the creases forming around his eyes, he could have sworn the man was smiling. The smile quickly faded to a burning intensity. The man spoke in a serious tone, pulling back his robes to reveal his knife by his side.
“Then I am afraid we must take action. I do not want to see Hundsberg die. If someone has to die to prevent this, then I shall do what must be done.”
And there it was. The reason behind all of this nonsense. In that moment, Cromwell’s suspicions were confirmed. This wasn’t about a cause. This wasn’t about the greater good of a community. Cromwell had recognised the stink of it as soon as he stepped into this dingy excuse of a hideout. He’d smelt it that one time in the attic in Bonneville, he’d smelt it on the battlefields of Duran, the stench was as unmistakable as it was disgusting: Evil.
Now that he knew what he was dealing with, Cromwell Attorcop could act accordingly. There was just one matter that needed attending to, Cromwell was so used to working alone that he almost forgot to check before he acted.
“I understand.” He said reassuringly, “I should speak to my niece, she might be able to help us…” The hooded man, cut him off.
“No I don’t think so. Your niece has been working with the townsfolk very closely and I do not think she will help us. They have deceived her you see. This is what they do.” His rising anger sparked a feeling of pride in Cromwell. Had he not been wearing that mask, Cromwell wagered he might see some nasty cuts and bruises on the man’s face.
“Besides,” The man said turning to look at the dogs, “I have someone watching her in case she causes trouble.” This made Cromwell’s stomach drop. He had considered that the man would not be working alone, but assumed Lilian would be safe with her new friend, was that not the case?
“What exactly would you have me do?” Cromwell asked the question in the hopes of getting things moving along so that he could go back to check on Lilian. The man went over to one of the dog cages, he picked up a pile of rags lying on top of it and threw them at Cromwell.
“Put this on.” He then bent down to let the black and white dog in the cage out. Cromwell looked down at the cloth in his hands, it was a similar colour to the man’s hooded cloak, a sort of dark mottled green. He felt something hard buried in the folds, unwrapping it he found a long rusted blade with a bone handle. It was a low and angry tool, not a shining proud and silver blade that might be found on the hip of a knight or noble, but a wretched and cruel thing with a single purpose as deadly and focused as the point at its end.
“And what is this for?” Asked Cromwell. The man was opening a second cage and pulling the red dog out by its collar. He looked up.
“Not what. Who. We’re going back to Hundsberg, and you’re going to help me assassinate Zinnia.” Cromwell stayed calm. He guessed something like this was coming.
“And if I refuse?” The man stood up and walked towards him. He had latched a thin rope onto the red dogs collar and handed Cromwell the ball that was attached to the other end. As the wood slapped into his palm the man looked at Cromwell and said, “Then I give the signal and my friend puts something similar into your nieces back. Either that or that great beast that is following you around. Either way, before the evening ends a blade will find a home and Hundsberg will be on course to better days. Now put on the clothes, and don’t forget the hood.”
Back in the woods near Hundsberg, Lilian was watching the sun beams stream through the trees. The sun was disappearing into the horizon and the orange glow was giving the green summer leaves an autumnal feel. Fritha was bounding towards her, lavender bag in mouth, her coat changing into a deep red as she approached. Lilian smiled, she was starting to see Fritha in a very different light. She had enjoyed every minute spent with her, ever since they met at the Padda stone ponds, but she was only just now beginning to feel a connection grow between them. She was noticing her little quirks and habits that made her even more unique and endearing. None of this would be possible if she hadn’t learnt the importance of play. She reminded herself to thank Stephanie properly when they left Hundsberg. In fact, she looked around, where was Stephanie? She thought. She had seen her only moments ago, throwing a stick for Leonardo to fetch. She couldn’t see Leonardo either. Strange, she thought.
“Fritha!” She called out and Fritha obediently lolloped towards her, thudding the earth with each heavy step. She fed her a berry when she reached her side, and continued to look about as Fritha chewed it happily. She noticed movement behind a clump of interlocking saplings and shifted a few steps to have a look. She saw Stephanie outlined against the light. She was talking to someone but Lilian couldn’t see who, the sunlight obscured their face. Lilian began to walk towards the pair and Stephanie turned when she drew close.
“We must go back to Hundsberg.” She said, “They are calling a meeting in the square, I should be there to hear what they say.” Lilian nodded and continued to approach. The person Stephanie was speaking to came into focus, they had a hood covering their head and a cloth mask pulled up over their nose and mouth. Lilian didn’t know them well enough to tell who it was from their eyes, but when she looked down she saw a wide-browed, dark muscular dog who she did recognise.
“Hello Bardat.” Said Lilian smiling. She had recognised the dog as Pippin, one of the two dogs that had knocked her and Mr Attorcop over that day she met Stephanie and Leonardo on the forest road. Bardat bowed his head towards her and gestured to both of them to follow him back to Hundsberg. Lilian was glad of the news, she had been growing tired from the day’s playing and could use a warm cup of Verbrann Suss, the milky sweet drink made from taking the sourness out of the berries that Fritha loved so much.
The three of them walked back in silence. Stephanie smiled at Lilian when Fritha began walking beside her. It was a kind and understanding smile. A smile of progress to which Lilian smiled in return, a smile of thanks and understanding. Bardat did not smile. He did not even look at them as he walked. Lilian thought little of it, she had always found him to be rather surly. When they reached Hundsberg there was already a large crowd gathering in one of the squares, a small wooden platform had been erected, presumably to give any speakers added height. Lilian saw Zinnia talking to one of the village elders and wondered if the raised platform was really necessary, considering her height. She looked tired and determined. Something about the event felt important, as if a decision had been made that might effect everyone in town and as a result, everyone had come out to bare witness. Not having Zinnia’s height, Lilian went to stand on some decking to the left of the crowd. Others were stood there and two women made room for her when she arrived. Stephanie did not follow her, choosing to chat in the crowd with two of her friends, Bardat however, did and was currently stood directly behind her. He wasn’t too tall and must have wanted a better view as well. Lilian scanned the crowd on the lookout for Mr Attorcop, he didn’t seem to have come back from his walk. Everyone was talking in low murmers, speculating as to why the meeting had been called. Lilian saw young children playing with their pups and older folk relying on their slow hounds to guide them round statues and puddles. She heard the occasional bark, but considering how many dogs were gathered in the square, this was a rare occurrence. Lilian found herself once again marvelling at the people of Hundsberg and their unique animal relationships. It started to rain softly and several people in the crowd put their hoods up or found nearby shelter under the trees that lined the square. Just then, her heart skipped a beat. She had to look again to be sure but she could have sworn she had just seen a hooded figure join the back of the crowd with a large red dog. Like many others their hood was up so their face was obscured, it wasn’t this that grabbed Lilian’s attention, the odd thing here was their dog. Lilian couldn’t be sure, but it looked like the dog that had attacked her the night she confronted the wall painter, the one responsible for all this chaos. On closer inspection, the figure looked male, they were tall and had broad shoulders. Had her attacker been that tall? She couldn’t remember. But it was certainly possible. She decided to keep an eye on them, in case she noticed anything odd.
As a hush fell on the crowd, Lilian turned to look at the stage. She tried to keep an eye on the man with the red dog, but she had difficulty doing so whilst looking at Zinnia who was now climbing on to the platform and motioning the crowd to be quiet. Her dog, Otto, sat beside her. Lilian thought it more important to keep an eye on her suspect so she elected to listen to Zinnia whilst watching the man with the red dog. Zinnia addressed the crowd in their native language so Lilian could only guess as to what she was saying. The faces in the crowd looked solem. Lilian didn’t need to understand the Zinnia’s words to know that she was delivering a serious message. Even the dogs seemed subdued, sensing the atmosphere from their masters. After a few minutes, Lilian’s attention was snapped back from scanning the crowd when she noticed motion out of the corner of her eye. The man with the red dog was moving. He was slow and deliberately moving forward, through the crowd. He was careful as he did so, making sure to lay a soft hand on anyone’s shoulder so that they would move out of the way without being bumped or shocked. The red dog followed several feet behind him, tracing the line he was making through the spectators. Lilian’s heart began to beat faster. She considered shouting out, drawing attention to the man but what if he was just an old man trying to get a better view of the stage? Could she be sure this was the same person as that night? He seemed taller, somehow slower in his movements but her head had been filled with adrenaline that night so she could easily be mistaken. No one in the crowd seemed to think this man out of place. Lilian told herself to calm down, she reminded herself that she was in a square with an entire town. The messenger, whoever it was, preferred to work in darkness and alone. This thought drew Lilan’s attention to the evening’s fading light, the sky was still blue in patches where it wasn’t cloudy but the sun had disappeared around the time Zinnia started speaking. The rain was now beginning to pick up making Lilian feel sorry for all the dogs without their own cloaks and hoods. They did not seem to mind however. The rain did make it slightly harder to keep an eye on the man with the red dog but Lilian was still tracking him as he made his way through the crowd. Surely if he was just seeking a better view of the stage, he would have stopped by now, she thought. And then she saw something strange. From within the folds of the cloak she caught sight of a light. It flickered and moved with each step. It was like the man was holding a mirror that was catching the last of the evening light. And then Lilian’s stomach dropped as the realisation dawned on her. It wasn’t a mirror, it was a blade. The man was past the mid section of the crowd and his pace was increasing, all of Lilian’s suspicions had been confirmed. The man was heading straight for Zinnia and he was carrying a knife. Lilian was running out of time, she decided quickly to raise the alarm, she was going to point at the man and have everyone look at him as she shouted the word ‘knife’ as loud as she could. She breathed in deeply and began to form the word with her tongue, when she felt a rough hand clasp over her mouth and she was pulled head and then body backwards into the shadows.
Benlunar - Episode 15
Tooth & Fist
The Roads of Alicium run through it like veins
From small paths down mountains to city built lanes
They’ll guide you home or take you away
Or make you visit village that begs you to stay
Up through the pass, down through the grass
Stick to your map, veer not from the path
Or perhaps take an unfamiliar bend
After all, the aim of the song is the tune not the end
Lilian sat stock still in the darkness of the round room. She was reeling from her strange experience with the attention exercise. For a few seconds, she could have sworn she had been somewhere else, or even many places, but without ever having left the hut. She was remembering the sounds and events she had experienced and was suddenly jolted into action. She stood up and tiptoed over to Mr Attorcop who lay sleeping in a pile of furs on the other side of the room. She bent down and shook his shoulder, trying to stay quiet as she moved. It didn’t take long for Mr Attorcop to open his eyes but it took him a couple more seconds to realise what was happening.
“Lilian? Is everything alright?” He sat up and looked around, Lilian brought her finger up to her mouth to quiet him down.
“I heard someone.” Mr Attorcop’s eyes darted around the dark space.
“Where?”
“Not here.” Replied Lilian, “They’re in town somewhere. They’re sneaking around and I think they’ve got a bucket of paint with them. I think someone is trying to paint another message.” Mr Attorcop was silent as he considered the information.
“What do you mean, you heard them? I can’t hear anything.”
“I was practising the attention exercise and I heard their footsteps. They sounded strange, I’m not sure where they are but…” She faltered as she realised how silly she sounded. She looked at Mr Attorcop, half expecting him to be laughing or rolling his eyes, but his face was serious.
“That’s good Lilian, I want to hear all about it soon but right now, I’m trying to think what’s best to do.” Lilian already had a plan.
“We can go now and maybe we’ll catch them red handed!”
“Maybe,” He spoke as he began pulling furs off him and standing up, “Or maybe they’re trying to lure us out, into a trap.”
“A trap?” said Lilian, incredulous, “How could they know I would hear them?”
“Maybe they assume we’re setting up watch during the night. I just don’t think it’s down to coincidence that another messenger appears the second night we decide to stay here.” Mr Attorcop stood bent and low to the ground. As he spoke, he edged toward the curtain that blocked the door.
“I think this might be some sort of test. I think they’re trying to figure out who’s side we’re on.” Lilian was confused.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, it seems that most of the village enjoys living in Hundsberg but a small section seem to think they’d be better off elsewhere. That’s my theory anyway.”
“You think it’s more than one person?” asked Lilian.
“Undoubtedly.” Replied Mr Attorcop as he pulled the curtain aside a fraction and peeked out into the village. After a little while he drew back and relaxed.
“Honestly Lilian, I think we should just go back to bed.” Lilian was aghast, she had to contain her shock so as to not raise her voice when she spoke,
“Go back to bed! There’s someone out there spreading awful ideas and insulting these people. They’ve been kind to us and they’ve fed us, how can you…” Anger was taking hold of her and Mr Attorcop put a hand out in an effort to calm her. Lilian found this very patronising and crossed her arms in a sulk.
“I’m not saying we ignore the problem. I’m saying that if we head out there now we risk showing our hand. The person out there is undoubtedly nervous and nervous people are unpredictable. I’ve already set a plan in motion that I believe…” But Lilian didn’t hear the end of his sentence. She had already pulled back the curtain and was stepping out of the hut into the balmy night. She had felt Mr Attorcop call after her, he might have even stepped outside, but without any shoes or boots on he didn’t get far without turning back to go and retrieve his footwear. By the time he’d put his boots on, Lilian had already ducked into a sidestreet and was trying to remember where the sound of the footsteps had come from. She found that anger was clouding her thoughts too much so she acted instinctively, letting her body take her where she needed to be. She found herself twisting down lanes and darting across wider streets. After only about 5 minutes she found herself in a dark alleyway, about two streets from the main road. There was no light coming from any of the small windows that looked out into the alley so Lilian was thankful for the clear sky and the light of the stars. She slowed her pace and focused her mind. The wooden board walls and trickles of smelly water seemed familiar and Lilian wondered if this was where she’d heard the furtive footsteps. Suddenly she saw movement up ahead. She ducked behind a pile of wooden crates and tried see if she could make out who was moving up ahead. Through a small gap in the wood she could only see the vague outline and movement of a hooded figure. They were tall and they were facing away from her. Lilian was reminded of the hoods and cowls worn by Stephanie and Bardat when they had accosted them in the forest, she had seen many people around Hundsberg wear similar hoods so guessing who this might be was impossible. Lilian needed to get a better look so she slowly stuck her head out from behind the boxes, careful not to make a sound as she did. She was able to get a better look at the hooded figure, she briefly saw that they were holding some kind of tool, possibly a brush, but Lilian didn’t have time to look properly because she was staring into the brown, glassy eyes of very big dog. Lilian hadn’t even thought to look for it. Of course it head smelt her and wandered over to investigate. For a brief second the two stared in silence, each as surprised as the other. The dog was dark red and didn’t have the wide forehead and big jaws that had made Leonardo so intimidating, but it was taller and could still probably be quite nasty if pushed to violence. The dog began jerking a little, Lilian thought it was about to be sick but with each new convulsion it let out a low and whispered sound, a small bark. And then she understood. The dog was signalling its owner of her presence without making a loud racket, Lilian might have been impressed if the dogs barking hadn’t suddenly drawn the attention of the hooded figure. Lilian saw them whirl round but they were too far and too covered up to make out any discerning features. She heard them let out a quick whistle and the dog ran back to them and just like that the two were off. They ran quickly and nimbly down the alley and into a sidestreet, Lilian, almost without thinking gave chase. Left down the street, right up another alley Lilian almost lost sight of them when they turned back on themselves down a near hidden path obscured by hanging laundry. She brushed the sheets aside and ran blindly after the culprit. Her fighting practise and consistent walking had done much for her fitness as she seemed to be closing the distance between her and her prey. If I could just get a look at their face, she thought as she turned a quick left corner. Lilian found herself running into almost pitch blackness, the buildings in this part of the town were very close together. Lilian slowed her pace so that she could find her bearings. Once her eyes adjusted to the darkness she beamed. Ahead of her was a large mud clay wall with no streets leading left or right, the hooded stranger was at the bottom of it, cornered. Lilian wanted to shout out, she wanted to alert the rest of Hundsberg that she had saved the day, or rather, the night but before she could get a word out, her smiled faded in realisation. The hooded figure was alone, which meant… Lilian whipped round to have her fears confirmed. The chestnut red dog was behind her teeth bared, a low growl coming from its muscular throat. Lilian cursed under her breath. It must have gone right instead of left at the last junction and Lilian had instinctively followed the sound of boots turning the opposite way. Now it had turned back and crept up on her, forcing her to have opponents on two sides. Her heart began to beat quickly and her training kicked in. She breathed deeply, slowing it down and putting oxygen into her limbs, this might be a long fight and she would need all the energy she could muster. She stepped back from the approaching dog, aware that she was just getting closer to the hooded figure.
“We don’t need to fight.” She said in as calm a voice as she could muster, “I haven’t seen your face or heard your voice. You can just leave me alone and I won’t pursue you.” She thought she could hear a faint laugh coming from under the stranger’s cowl. They might be right to laugh at the threats of a young girl, thought Lilian, they were quite a bit taller than she was and had a well trained hunting beast to back them up.
There was a pregnant silence. Lilian stood in a guard position and waited. She breathed out slowly readying her body. And then the fight began. It was the dog that lunged first, its jaws glittered in the starlight as they hurtled towards Lilian’s left arm with uncanny speed. Lilian was ready though and she twisted out of the way and watched the dog fly past, with a fraction of a second’s realisation Lilian flicked her arms up to her right to guard against a punch from above. The dog’s attack had been yet another distraction and it was only months of reaction practise that saved her from a knock out blow. The punch was followed swiftly by two more, a left hook blocked by her right arm and a right uppercut that Lilian had to step backwards to avoid. She remembered Mr Attorcop’s word from one of their many sparring sessions, “If you have to step back, get back into their space quickly. A blow hurts more the longer it has to travel.” The advice rang true as Lilian was able to block another wild punch by stepping into it rather than away. Then the dog was back, it stood between its owner’s legs and snapped at Lilian’s heels. At one point the stranger muttered a word and the animal leapt upwards knocking Lilian to the ground. Luckily she’d had the foresight to tuck her legs into her body and was able to kick the dog up and over her, it landed a few feet away with a thud and a whimper. Lilian continued the backwards rolling motion and used it to find her feet. She stood up and caught her breath. The stranger had paused. Lilian had clearly surprised them with her level of competence but she knew that that would not be enough to make them stop attacking. Lilian noticed that although they had strength, the stranger lacked speed. This would be her winning tactic. The next flurry of attacks began as soon as the dog was up on its feet. Lilian dodged and blocked as best she could but the two attackers weaved and danced in near perfect symbiosis. As soon as one fainted an attack the other would appear from elsewhere with a serious hit. Lilian felt a knee driven hard into her chest but Mr Attorcop’s voice echoed in her head once more. “A good fighter isn’t one who can land the most hits. It’s often the one who can take the most and still keep fighting.” And so Lilian persisted. Every bite was batted away, every punch blocked by wrist or fist. She managed to get in a few hits of her own, even one to the strangers stomach that had them double over in shock. But whereas in a normal fight, Lilian could have taken advantage of this lapse to deliver a knock-out kick, the dog was instantly in front of its owner, snapping and clawing in their defence. Lilian was getting weary, what made things even more difficult was that she wasn’t carrying a stick or blade, but then, she thought, thankfully they aren’t either. Lilian suddenly realised that she had them both with their backs to the wall, leaving the exit free for her to run to. But she took a split second to decide whether to run or keep fighting, and it cost her dearly. As she turned to run, she felt sharp teeth clamping down on her left heel, she gasped and instinctively turned to observe the damage. The stranger took advantage of the distraction and delivered a swift punch to her left cheek. It sent tiny lights spraying across her vision and she felt her balance go. Lilian managed to tear her leg out of the dog’s jaws and get a few steps away before falling over. The hard ground came up to meet her with dizzying speed, she could taste blood in her mouth. Suddenly, she felt the weight and fur of an animal step over her, she braced herself and tried to cover her throat, scared that the stranger’s dog might try to bite it. But nothing happened. Lilian opened her eyes and indeed saw a large creature standing over her, its hefty legs straddling her body. It’s fur wasn’t red however, it was a strange dark green, and all of a sudden, it changed to become a bright orange. Fritha. Thought Lilian. She breathed out and tried to gather her senses. She sat up on her elbow and tried to look at the scene. Fritha was staring intently at the man, her eyes narrowed and her back arched with aggression. She was bearing her long fangs and Lilian saw that the stranger and the dog were at a loss. They didn’t seem to dare to attack and were stepping back towards the large wall. Lilian picked herself up slowly. She stared at Fritha who was tense with anger. Just then, her back dropped and her mouth closed. She did not break eye contact with the aggressors, but she no longer seemed on the verge of attacking. She towered two heads taller than the stranger’s dog who currently had its tail between its legs in worry. Then a low sound came from Fritha. Lilian had never heard it before. It was like someone hitting a gong with a cloth softened mallet, producing a haunting and beautiful sound. It came from her throat, as all Fritha’s strange bell like sounds did and it reverberated and hung in the air for some time. Then it happened again and it seemed to send panic into the hearts of the stranger and their dog. The mysterious person turned around and placed their foot into a hidden enclave in the wall, they quickly hoisted themselves up and were able to turn and place their other foot on a high ledge on the cornering wall. Their dog then leapt into their arms with a well practised jump and the stranger through it up and over the back wall of the alley. Lilian heard a soft thud and assumed there must be some stack of soft materials behind it for precisely this situation. She watched as the stranger jumped up and followed suit and with a flick of their cloak, they were over the wall and gone.
Lilian swore and felt shame rise up inside her. She had been foolish and she had failed. If Fritha hadn’t… Well, she didn’t want to think about what might have happened. She looked down at Fritha amazed that she had found her in this dark place.
“Thank you.” She whispered. She felt a little silly talking to Fritha whom she knew full well could not respond, but she quickly ignored that feeling. Why shouldn’t she thank her? Fritha was looking at Lilian, her nose twitching with concern. Low and pleasant chiming emanated from her chest, her coat was a deep purple and her eyes were big and bright and beautiful.
Later, Lillian limped shamefully through the curtain into the round hut. Mr Attorcop was not there so Lilian found a pan of fresh water and began to clean her cuts. Luckily, the dog’s bite on her ankle had gripped her boot more than her skin so she managed to get away with some bloodied bruising rather than a torn ligament. She cleaned it and dressed it with some rags she boiled over the fire. She was cleaning the cut on her face when Mr Attorcop walked in. When he saw her he gave a big sigh and closed his eyes. Lilian was expecting a lecture but he seemed to get a grip on his anger before he spoke.
"How bad are you hurt?" Lilian felt a lump in her throat, she wanted to cry but knew that it wouldn't help. She pushed it down.
"I'm OK. Couple of cuts and this." She gestured to her ankle. Mr Attorcop shook his head.
"Can you walk." Lilian nodded. He came over to the benches by the fire pit and sat down. He thought a while before speaking.
"I don't want to shout and tell you off. I'm not your father and I think you're probably well aware of how stupid and dangerous your actions were tonight." Lilian almost wished that he did shout at least then she could have raged and shouted back like she wanted, instead she just felt the hot lump of tears and sadness well up in her throat. He was not her father. Lilian missed her father.
"Lilian I'm not training you to fight so that you can go around threatening…"
"I didn't…" Lilian protested but Mr Attorcop raised his hand quickly to silence her. His patience was being tested. He spoke slowly, measuring his words carefully,
"The training we've been doing has two purposes, the first is to get you more in tune with your body, the second is to help you in the last resort of violence breaking out. There are many ways to solve problems and violence is very rarely one of them. I know you weren't picking a fight. But you shot out of this place without realising that violence might have been your prey's intention, despite it not being your own. I… " Mr Attorcop faltered. Lilian lifted her gaze from the floor to look at him. His eyes were red, he looked tired.
"I was scared." And with that he said no more. Lilian rubbed a place on her ribs that had been hit in the fight.
"I'm sorry." She spoke softly and could feel her pulse beating in her reddening cheeks. Mr Attorcop didn't acknowledge the apology. Instead, he got up and walked over to his bed.
"Did you at least see their face?" he muttered as he began pulling the animal skins back.
"No," replied Lilian, getting up and testing her weight on her damaged ankle, “But I saw their dog.”
The next morning saw the news of a new message whip around the town like wildfire. The wall in question was very close to the main road and this, more than the actual words, seemed to be the main concern. The message was a strange one because it was not finished like the rest had been. In bold red letters it read “GET OUT. MOVE AWA…” and that was it. The last word was assumed to be ‘away’ but the culprit seemed to only have had time to write part of it. Lilian agreed with Mr Attorcop to keep last night’s events a secret, apparently he was enacting some plan that Lilian’s scuffle might endanger. Lilian offered to help but he assured her that training with Stephanie and Fritha would be a more valuable use of her time in Hundsberg. Once the wall had been scrubbed and the nosier citizens shooed back into their homes, Mr Attorcop and Lilian sat with Stephanie in the main hut. They were drinking their sweet Verbrunn Suss and discussing the morning’s discovery.
“I think they will have a meeting here today.” Said Stephanie, patting a drooling Leonardo on the side.
“Who?” Asked Mr Attorcop.
“Zinnia and the heads of the families. They must decide what to do about this.” Mr Attorcop considered her answer and stared at Stephanie. Lilian wanted to apologise for him, staring so indignantly was considered rude in Benlunar but Mr Attorcop never was one for proper social etiquette.
“Stephanie?” He asked finally, “What do you think of the messages? Do you agree with them?” Lilian almost spoke up and if she hadn’t had a proper telling off last night she would have done. She expected Stephanie to be hurt by the question, as if anyone would agree with such hateful words against her own people. But when she looked over at her young, curly haired friend she saw her face scrunch up in confusion. She seemed to be having difficulty forming a response.
“I don’t agree with the way they are saying it…” Mr Attorcop pushed.
“But you agree with the sentiment.”
“No… well.” Stephanie lowered her voice. “A few of the younger people here think that Hundsberg needs to become a bit more… modern.”
“Modern? How so?”
“Well, I mean it’s ok now in the Summer but in the winter it gets very cold and the mud does not dry quickly but no one complains because, well this is our home and we are doing our best but maybe if we allowed more strangers in we could trade or learn new things. I think it would not be of harm but the older people they want Hundsberg to stay the same because we are protected and safe and we have always been so maybe they are right.” Lilian couldn’t restrain herself any longer.
“Do you think the person writing the messages is a young person from Hundsberg?” Stephanie sighed.
“I do not know anyone who thinks this way or would say these things to our community.” A silence fell for a while before it was interrupted by Zinnia entering the hut with Otto trotting behind her. She sat down by the fire pit and rubbed her eyes. She seemed tired and even more stressed than when they had first met. Then she began to speak. She spoke as if the words were aching to burst out of her. Lilian wondered if she might have said them even if they hadn’t been sat there waiting for her.
“If it’s trouble they want then they are succeeding. All morning I have been putting out fires. ‘Zinnia, what does this mean, Zinnia are we safe, Zinnia should we leave or stay? And of course all I want to say is ‘I don’t know’ but the minute you say that the next thing you hear is ‘are we sure Zinnia is fit to lead is? She never seems to have an answer to anything.” She sighed and said a few words to Stephanie that Lilian didn’t understand. Stephanie nodded and looked at Lilian and jerked her head towards the entrance. Lilian understood the signal and left, calling Fritha to join them as she did. She did it off hand and was delighted to see the Feinhound get up and obediently follow her. Stephanie smiled at the progress,
“I knew you could do it Amelia, I think today we should work more on her fetching and playing yes?” Lilian nodded and Followed Stephanie through Hundsberg to the small square they had worked in the day before. Mr Attorcop had opted to stay behind for the meeting and Lilian was pleased to get to spend the day training again. Stephanie taught her more than she could have hoped for. Every lesson took the form of a game and Lilian quickly discovered Fritha’s playful side as they had her chasing furry toys and balls around the entire square. Once the game had been established Stephanie would show Lilian how to turn the game into a lesson. Chasing the ball was rewarded with a sour berry when the ball was successfully returned. Lilian was instructed to reward Fritha often and quickly so that Fritha would quickly associate a certain action with something she loved. In a matter of hours Lilian was getting Fritha to wait while she walked back the length of the square, she could fetch various objects which she recognised by name alone and she even managed to change colour on command once or twice. Stephanie admitted that Fritha was making exceptionally quick progress.
“It took Leonardo two weeks to learn not to just lie on his back when I said his name! You are a great teacher Amelia and Fritha is a very good pupil. I should expect nothing less from an Angsthund.” They were sitting on a bench drinking fresh water and taking a break from training. Lilian blushed at the complements and then remembered a question she had meant to ask several days ago.
“What does that mean? Angsthund?” Stephanie looked back from watching Leonardo chasing Fritha’s tail and nipping at her ankles.
“Hm? Oh this is what we call Fritha. Angsthund is the legendary spirit of Hundsberg.”
“That’s funny.” Replied Lilian, “Where I’m from, we call them Feinhounds.” The name sparked a memory of Kilde laying traps and nets on a forest floor, it sent a shock of pain running through her chest. She did her best to ignore it and looked at Stephanie who was smiling.
“That’s strange. I like the name Feinhound. I wonder if it comes from “fear-hound.”
“What do you mean?” Asked Lilian.
“Oh. That’s what Angsthund means. Fear-hound. It’s because in all the stories they are very scary.” Lilian thought about this for a second. Maybe the term ‘fear-hound’ had travelled up the mountain from this village and changed into Feinhound. She had always thought it was a Feinhound because it pretended to be things in the stories.
“Can’t dogs sense fear?” She asked, remembering something her mother had told her once about not being scared of animals.
“No,” replied Stephanie, “this is a myth. To do something like that it takes…” Her eyes fell on Fritha as her coat shimmered into a dazzling pink and blue, “It takes a legend.”
Mr Attorcop regretted his decision to stay behind and listen to the meeting. The responses to the new writing from the elders of the town had been slow and predictable. After hearing the fifth old man complain about Zinnia’s lack of leadership and fears that his children were in danger, Mr Attorcop decided to start coughing loudly and used this as an excuse to leave. His mind was partly clouded by lack of sleep but it was still clear enough to show him a path. If he was correct in his assumptions then this whole mess could be concluded by the end of the day, but that might mean putting himself at risk. His shoulder was still hurting from when that blasted dog had knocked him over so if he had to bash a few head together before leaving this place he wouldn’t be sorry. Still… he thought whilst looking at a group of kids playing fetch with their respective pups, he wouldn’t want to face a group of these animals in a fight. He had spoken to Siegfried’s nephew the day before. He had been glad to leave the stinking soldier in the pool of beer and sweat he’d found him in, but felt a pang of sorrow to find out that he was the boy’s only carer. The boy however was chipper and seemed content with playing with his little caramel coloured dog and his friends. When he was questioned about the first message that he found he became mute. Had he found it on his own? No response. Did he remember what it said? A shake of the head. What had he been playing that day behind the main building? A shrug. Frustrated, Mr Attorcop hoped that today’s meeting with the boys uncle would prove more fruitful. He had agreed to meet him again after an extensive chat the day before about the history of Hundsberg. Apparently it had once been a thriving hub of trade, but no one was alive to remember such days. Still, there were, as in every settlement, a disenfranchised few that wished for better things but were unable or unwilling to work to make them happen. This bygone era of trade and glory was one such way of life the boozy dwellers of Der Letzte Tropfen harkened back to when grumbling about the inadequacies of the current establishment. Of course, as was always the case with such people, as soon as they were questioned about the steps needed to make change happen, they would rant and rail about how it wasn’t their responsibility, but that of the elders and governors that were just too lazy or corrupt to do anything about it. They were exactly the kind of people Mr Attorcop had hoped to find and after his conversation that morning with Stephanie his suspicions had been confirmed. He only hoped that last night’s activity hadn’t ruined his plan. It took several days of visiting the dingy bar and pretending to drink the bitter flat beer that they served there. He would laugh at their terrible jokes, play their annoying games and shout loudly to anyone who would listen that he hoped a new message would appear that night, that he hoped the people of Hundsberg would listen to the warnings and leave their town, that he hoped every wall in the entire place was covered in writing. Finally on the 6th day, he was approached by a pale faced man that seemed to know Siegfried. He pulled Mr Attorcop to one side and whispered that he agreed with him. He handed him a note and quickly left, drawing his hood down and whistling to his large, red dog.
Benlunar - Episode 14
Four legged friends
The Roads of Alicium run through it like veins
From small paths down mountains to city built lanes
They’ll guide you home or take you away
Or make you visit village that begs you to stay
Up through the pass, down through the grass
Stick to your map, veer not from the path
Or perhaps take an unfamiliar bend
After all, the aim of the song is the tune not the end
That night, Lilian slept soundly in a corner of the great circular room. Stephanie had fetched blankets for her and Mr Attorcop and Lilian gladly wrapped herself in the soft wool and lay her head on a sheepskin pillow. As she drifted off to sleep, she remembered the cold silence that had descended on the room when she had mentioned her theory about the painted messages. Zinnia’s face had been a mask of shock. That anyone in her community would want to hurt them was unthinkable, let alone force them out of their homes by use of threats and intimidation. It was clear that Zinnia had a lot to consider and so she quickly summoned blankets and bade them to sleep, they would tackle the matter tomorrow. And so, with the crackling of the fire popping in her mind, Lilian drifted into a deep sleep where she dreamt of home only it was run by dogs who spoke and who only ever wanted to eat carrots.
Seeing Hundsberg in the light of day was a wonderful experience. Lilian had assumed that all the wood and mud would make the town a dull brown but she was surprised to see just how much colour there was. The walls were painted with murals and words inspiring love and a strong sense of community. There were bright orange walls across from purple window frames. Stephanie explained that the dyes and paints were all made from the surrounding plants and insects. She was taking them to the spot where the first message appeared, Mr Attorcop had asked to see it. Fritha was staying close to Lilian and was giving the Hundsberg murals a run for their money with an array of bright blues and gold shimmering on her slick fur. Lilian wondered if she was playing up to the crowd. People stared as they walked past, some were brave and went to try and touch her but each time they did she would slip away from their hands, just as she did whenever Lilian tried. Stephanie guided them through little alleyways and side passages, the houses in Hundsberg clearly made use of all available space so it took some maneuvering to get round the back of the main, circular building they had slept in last night. The journey had made Lilian realise why Zinnia had been so shocked to hear that the culprit might be one of their own citizens. The sense of shared experience and community was very strong. She guessed it had to be if everyone lived so close to one another. Lilian would spot people walking freely in and out of each other’s houses, they would smile and greet each other with the kind of happiness that Benlunar folk might only express after not seeing a close friend for many months. Everyone had their dog with them at all times and Lilian began to realise that they were not merely companions. They would help with hunting, with guarding the town against danger, with tracking lost townsfolk but their uses went beyond the practical. They comforted children when they fell over, they played with their owners and brought a sense of fun and silliness to this strange forest town. Lilian watched as a child, probably no older than 7 or 8, played catch with his yappy brown and black puppy. They seemed to feed off each other’s energy. Lilian looked at Fritha and wondered if she would ever see this serious and sullen creature catch a ball and bring it back.
When they got to the site of the first message, Mr Attorcop began asking about the paint. The words had long been scrubbed clean but faint outlines could still be seen.
“The words were red.” Stephanie was still smiling, despite the gravity of the message, “I think it was meant to look like blood. It could have been blood I suppose, but we use a lot of red paint made from boiled berries and we never found any corpses or dead things lying around.” Mr Attorcop was looking closely at the wall while Lilian was casting an eye on their surroundings. The large building backed onto a small space, probably only the size of Lilian’s kitchen back in Benlunar. The wall stretched across one side while a steep mudbank flanked the other. Lilian saw a lot of various footprints, both human and dog running up and down the bank so it would have been difficult to track anyone. It certainly wasn’t the kind of place where the writing would be clearly visible.
“The message could have been up for quite a while before anyone noticed it.” She said to Mr Attorcop.
“Yes.” He replied, “But I suppose if they didn’t want to be caught in the act it makes sense to put it back here. It would have been found eventually. Who did you say found the message Stephanie?”
“A boy. Gerhart. He was playing back here and he screamed when he saw the message.” Mr Attorcop paused and turned back to look at Stephanie.
“Playing?” He said, “What was he playing?” Stephanie looked confused.
“I’m not sure. He just said he was playing. Probably a game with his dog, I think her name is Kiki.” Mr Attorcop shrugged and turned back to the wall. Stephanie’s dog, Leonardo, was by her side and suddenly began to paw at her leg. She turned to him and raised a finger,
“Hold Leonardo.” Lilian was fascinated.
“What does he want?” She asked.
“Oh, we train them to tell us when they need to go to the toilet. He is telling me he needs to go, I am telling him to wait because we are busy.”
“Are all the dogs this well trained?” Said Lilian, looking at Leonardo who had gone back to sitting patiently.
“Oh yes, our lives may depend on it. Everyone relies on their dog and everyone’s dog relies on them. I am the only person who is allowed to feed Leonardo and I trust him with my safety, always.” Lilian caught herself glancing at Fritha again. It was as if she was being haunted by a strange ghost. There was a relationship between them, but not one anyone might call close. Stephanie must have noticed Lilian’s disappointment.
“Do you do any training with Fritha Amelia? Do you play together?” Lilian still wasn’t used to being called a different name. She flushed, she felt embarrassed to admit to such a competent dog owner that her own companion had little to no training and generally did as she pleased. She didn’t even dare call Fritha her dog.
“No. I… I wouldn’t know what to do. She’s amazing but I feel like she could leave at any minute and never come back.” Stephanie smiled broadly.
“No. She will not do this. She will stay with you for the rest of her life, I am sure of this in the same way that I am sure I can see you standing here in front of me.” Lilian smiled a hopeful, all be it disbelieving smile. Stephanie’s posture suddenly changed, her gaze fell to the floor and she seemed ashamed to speak.
“Miss Amelia, I hope I am not being too bold or rude but…” She paused, clearly very uncomfortable.
“What is it?” Asked Lilian,
“Well… If you wouldn’t mind, I could help you to train Fritha? But of course, only with permission. I’m sorry, in my culture training someone else’s dog is something you do with very young children, after that it is considered very rude...”
“Yes…” Lilian interrupted her. “I would love that. I’ve never even had a dog and I wouldn’t even know where to start. Please, would you help us?” Stephanie’s smile was so wide Lilian worried she might pull a muscle.
“It would be my honour.” And to Lilian’s surprise she bowed and then to Lilian’s delight, Leonardo lowered his head and bowed too.
“Once everyone is quite finished with the theatrics I should like to see the other sites.” Mr Attorcop had evidently finished examining the wall and motioned for Stephanie to lead the way.
The other spots that had been vandalised were also in secluded areas, although each new warning was closer to the main street. It appeared that whoever was leaving them was getting bolder with each attempt. Lilian didn’t gain much more information from the other sites and she wondered whether Mr Attorcop might have noticed something she hadn’t. Perhaps she was distracted by the thought of training Fritha. It was an exciting concept but something was worrying her still. Fritha was not a domesticated animal, she was a wild beast, would she even respond to training in the same way? After examining all the sites they sat down to eat in the main hut that they had slept in the night before. Zinnia must have been busy with town business because she did not join them. Lilian happily ate the thick soup that had been cooking on the central fire all morning. It was thick and chunky with soft vegetables and bits of meat floating in it. It might not have been much to look at but when Lilian sipped the broth her taste buds lit up. She knew the taste of the various vegetables, but the unfamiliar herbs and spice made it almost as good as the traditional Benlunar beef stew. She had to pace herself in eating it, lest it disappear before she could enjoy it properly. When she was about half way through her bowl, she looked up to see Stephanie behaving rather strangely. She was carefully extracting various chunks of meat and vegetables from her bowl and placing them on the floor in a little line between Lilian and Fritha. The Feinhound was sitting imperiously looking at this strange behaviour, her sharp eyes quickly darting from Stephanie to the food and back again. Once she had placed about six different morsels down she knelt beside Lilian and whispered.
"Call her to the food." Lilian drained the last of her broth and swallowed nervously. She looked at Fritha's beautiful cat-like eyes, shining in the low light of the hut. She looked like a queen draped across the animal skins in perfectly poised comfort.
"Fritha!" Lilian spoke in her clearest, most commanding voice, but as she predicted, Fritha did not move. She merely stared and then proceeded to lick her paw. Lilian turned to Stephanie, disheartened.
"Don't worry." She said, "you must have patience. This is the only way."
"I fed her an hour ago." said Lilian, "She must not be hungry." Stephanie was not convinced.
"When we find the right food, she will never want to stop! Look at Leonardo, he will do anything for a bit of chicken." At the mere mention of the word Leonardo stood up and cocked his head expectantly. Lilian giggled and looked back at Fritha. She was standing up and cautiously approached the line of food. She sniffed the chunk of meat and picked at it gingerly. Lilian smiled. "There! What kind of meat is that?"
"It is lamb I think. But this is not the right one. She is eating but she is not excited. When we find the right food or toy, we can begin training." Lilian didn't understand why they couldn't use lamb but she put her trust in Stephanie's experience.
Mr Attorcop hadn't been paying any attention to the proceedings. His head was wrapped up in a mystery. It was one of his favourite mental spaces to be. He twisted and turned the morning’s observations in his head like a carpenter examining a box from all angles. Each piece of information represented a lock in his head and every lock could only be opened with one key. The keys of course were the different theories surrounding the motivations and circumstances of the mystery. Some keys opened several locks, but only one would open them all and reveal the boxes contents. Currently, Mr Attorcop was wrestling with a particular lock, the one that represented motive. If his and Lilian’s theory was correct, and the words had indeed been written by someone in the village, he needed to know why. He had considered other locks, like getting everyone in the village to write down a sentence and comparing their handwriting to the graffiti, but this would take far too long and the culprit would easily figure out his intention and purposefully change their pen style. He had considered interviewing every single person in town but again, this would take days and he would rather leave Hundsberg within the week. The mystery was too enticing to simply ignore though, and a few days rest wouldn’t hurt their journey. No, he thought as he gazed at the little animal that obediently followed Stephanie around, the key to this mess lies in motivation. If I can work out why someone would want to relocate the town, I can narrow down the suspects to people who agree with them. This should speed up the process considerably.
“Amelia,” Mr Attorcop drained his bowl and addressed his ward, Lilian looked up, the name sounded even stranger coming from him, “If you don’t mind staying with Stephanie this afternoon I’m going to conduct some interviews.” Lilian was pleased to get the chance to work with Stephanie but felt a pang of worry,
“Are you sure you don’t need any help?” Lilian asked, they had done everything together for weeks, this sudden desire to work alone struck her as odd.
“I’ll be fine. I have an idea I’d like to test and I believe this might be easier to do alone.” Mr Attorcop saw Lilian’s expression and wondered why she looked so hurt. He tried to address it. “Don’t worry,” He said, “All will be clear by this evening. I leave you in Stephanie’s capable hands.” And with that he drew back the curtain across the hut’s entrance and stepped into the dappled light of the forest village.
The ground was hard and dry and Cromwell Attorcop’s feet carried him silently across Hundsberg’s main street until he found what he was looking for. He walked past people and dogs gathered on corners, sitting on beautifully carved benches. He nodded to a group of young men who were busy tanning a hide in a low pit, the smell of chemicals made him wince but he stopped nonetheless to admire the bags, shoes and various other produce that the tanners had created. It was good work, not as decorative as Freedos leather with its fancy studs and perforations that catered to the taste of nobles who would never need their shoes to walk through muck and puddles. These boots were sturdy and chemically treated to the point of being comfortable as well as waterproof. He spoke with the tanners and purchased a pair of dark boots. They were expensive but they would last him many years if he treated them regularly with the wax provided by the Hundsberg leather workers. He agreed to pay a little extra and bought Lilian a pair as well. Finally, he asked one of the men where he might find Gerhart, the child who had first seen the message written on the wall.
“Why do you wish to speak with Gerhart?” Replied the man, pocketing Cromwell’s gold and turning back to his tools.
“I’m investigating the strange messages that have been found on the walls. I believe he was the first to see one. I just want to ask him a couple of questions.” He tried to sound as non-threatening as possible, always a useful tactic when asking to speak with someone’s infant son.
“If you go to Der Letzte Tropfen at the end of the road there. You should meet Siegfried. That is Gerhart’s uncle.” Mr Attorcop nodded,
“How will I know him?” A couple of the men smile at the question. One replied,
“You won’t miss him. You might even see him with your eyes closed.” This was met with some chuckles and one of the younger lads said something in another language which was met with outright laughter. It seemed as though this Siegfried character was a source of mockery amongst the tanners. Mr Attorcop thanked them once more and made his way in the direction they had pointed out. The house they described turned out to be a small Inn. It had none of the welcoming air of the Inns they had passed on the road. The door was shabby and dark and might only have been recognised as a public house by the faded painting of a near empty beer mug on a board outside. The mug had a faded image of a bleary-eyed dog above it, the animal’s tongue reaching down into it, nearly touching the last of the foamy beer. Mr Attorcop curled his nose at the smell coming from inside. He took a couple of deep breaths, and pushed the door open.
Lilian stepped out of the Hundsberg central hut with Stephanie by her side and Fritha following moments later. She had watched Fritha nibble at the various chunks of stew but none, according to Stephanie, had achieved quite the desired effect.
“I think we walk through town and we watch her now.” Said Stephanie confidently. Lilian still wasn’t sure what they were looking for but couldn’t help but trust Stephanie’s upbeat and smiley attitude. Leonardo trotted up ahead, occasionally turning to check that they were still following. Lilian followed Stepahnie’s advice and kept an eye on Fritha. As they walked, she watched Fritha turn her head nonchalantly from side to side, taking in the various sights and hounds of Hundsberg’s main street. Whenever they walked past someone eating something Stephanie would speak to them quickly in their own language and gesture to Lilian and Fritha. Everyone they met was keen to help and offered a piece of their food for Lilian to take. Each time she did she would set it in front of her and call out to Fritha. Fritha would eventually step forward and sniff at the morsel of chicken or cheese before either nibbling at it or ignoring it completely. Each try was met with sighs and shrugs from Stephanie and the strangers they had asked. Eventually, a small crowd began to follow them as word spread of their mission to find Fritha’s favourite food. It wasn’t until quite some time later that they met with success. Lilian was close to giving up by the time they reached the end of the main street, near to where she and Mr Attorcop had entered Hundsberg last night. She was close to turning around and announcing to the crowd to go back to their homes when a familiar smell appeared from nowhere. She turned and looked around to find its source and her eyes fell upon a short woman with grey hair some distance away. She was standing in front of a pewter cauldron and was holding a large wooden implement with both hands. The sweet smell was clearly coming from her pot and Lilian quickly realised where she had smelt it before. It had been the scent of the sweet drink she and Mr Attorcop had been given when they arrived in the main hut and met with Zinnia. Her mouth began to salivate with the memory of it. That must be what she’s brewing, thought Lilian as her feet carried her instinctively towards her. As she approached, the woman smiled. Her face wrinkled as she did and her small brown eyes almost disappeared from view.
“Greutzi dame, entschuldige, bitte warten.” She said, Lilian turned to Stephanie for a translation.
“You will have to wait a bit, the drink is not quite ready.”
“What is it?” asked Lilian,
“We call it Verbrann suss. It means, burnt and sweet. We make it from the berries and with cows milk.” Stephanie gestured behind the woman where a box of brown berries sat in the shade. She asked the old woman something and then went to get one.
“You must not eat too many, or else your stomach will be upset. Not everyone likes them raw but I do.” Lilian watched as she popped one quickly into her mouth and began to chew. Her expression shrivelled in bitter shock. A few of the onlookers turned away or laughed at her, aware of what she’d done and living the nasty experience again vicariously.
“Here,” she said smiling through the taste, “try one.” She threw a berry to Lilian who caught it. It was hard and brown with little white dots covering its skin. She pushed it a little and felt the hard outer surface give a little. She took a deep breath and placed it on her tongue. She felt the hard shell rattle against her teeth, but the taste was not particularly shocking, it was quite sweet in fact. A few of the onlookers leant forward in anticipation. All was fine and Lilian was starting to wonder what the fuss was about until she bit down on it hard and released the juices from the berries centre. Her first instinct was to spit it out, and if there hadn’t been so many people around she might have done just that. Her tongue was drenched in sourness, so much that her eyes instinctively closed as if she had just been hit. She began to chew the berry in the hope that it would ease the eye-watering bitterness but this only released more juices. She began to sweat as the crowd around her laughed and pointed. Her face must have been bright red, and not from embarrassment but from the sheer heat of the sweet sour flavours. At first the berry tasted nothing like the drink from the night before but as the initial burst subsided she began to appreciate the sweet flavour, like burnt sugar or honey behind the sour wall. She brushed water from her eyes and smiled back at the old woman and Stephanie as she swallowed the last of the brown berry. Stephanie’s face caught her attention, she was grinning cheekily, not her usual happy beam, but a knowing wry smile.
“What?” Asked Lilian.
“Look.” She said in almost a whisper as she pointed down to Lilian’s waist. Lilian followed her finger and came face to face with Fritha, her eyes wide with dilated pupils fixed on her. Lilian gasped a little and watched as a large purple tongue came out of Fritha’s mouth to lick her chops. Stephanie crept close and placed another berry in Lilian’s outstretched hand, the crowd had fallen silent.
“Amelia,” whispered Stephanie, “hold it over her head and move it back until she sits down.” Lilian did as she was told and held the berry high over Fritha’s head, she noticed a little drop of saliva creeping out from the side of Fritha’s mouth as she did so. She brought it up high so that Fritha had to crane her neck up to look at it and then Lilian kept going until the only way Fritha could keep an eye on the berry was to sit on her haunches.
“Good,” whispered Stephanie, “Now say ‘sit’ and give her the berry.” Lilian drew in a deep breath and confidently spoke the word.
“Sit!” she then lowered her hand and calmly fed the berry to Fritha. Everyone watched as the Feinhound took the berry quickly, chewed it in half a second, swallowed and then looked up expectantly for another. Her coat shone and shimmered in a rainbow of colour as Lilian heard cheers and applause from the crowd. Stephanie rushed over to hug her.
“Well done Amelia! We found her favourite and you’ve just taught Fritha her first lesson!” Lilian looked down at Fritha who was glowing in a deep golden coat and she could not stop smiling.
On the other side of town, Mr Attorcop, was not smiling. He had just walked into the gloomiest, smelliest and downright dingiest inn he’d ever seen. There was no bar to speak of, just a table near a wall with a few jugs of questionable looking liquid line up on the side. There were chairs and tables scattered around but every inch of furniture was covered in carvings. There was a shabby looking boar's head hung loosely on the far wall under which sat a few men playing a round of cards. Even from this distance Mr Attorcop noticed a card tucked sneakily into the back of one of their boots. A few heads turned as he entered but no one seemed to pay him much mind as he cast a quick eye over the group, hoping to spot someone who might be apparently unmissable. His gaze fell on a man who was sitting alone. He wasn’t the scruffiest of the patrons, his faded red coat might even have been splendid once upon a time, but something about him made him stand out. Mr Attorcop couldn’t quite put his finger on it but headed over to see if his hunch was correct. As he sat beside the man, he guessed that the coat might have been military issued. The man looked up in surprise, his eyes were red and he had a patchy beard. Mr Attorcop breathed in as he was about to introduce himself and immediately regretted the decision. The smell coming off this man was enough to make him wretch, he had to simultaneously suppress his breakfast and his memories of growing up near a sewer.
“Can I help you Fremder?” said the man in a gruff voice.
“I hope so. I’ve been hearing things about strange messages on walls around town. I’ve agreed to help figure out who’s been writing them.” The man snorted into his large beer mug, flecks of liquid sprayed the etchings on his table.
“And who are you? A travelling detective?” A few of the men nearby overheard the comment and laughed.
“I was just passing through and thought my outside perspective might be helpful. Apparently your nephew was the first person to see one of the messages, with your permission I’d like to speak with him. Between you and me though, I don’t see myself taking the case too seriously.” He let the comment hang in the air while he looked around pretending to soak in the atmosphere. He suddenly realised what it was about this man that felt so strange. It wasn’t that he was smelly or drunk or alone at his table. It was that unlike every single other person in Hundsberg, this man had no dog. After just a moment the fish snapped at the bait.
“And why is that?” said the old soldier.
“Hm? Oh. Well it’s just some writing on some walls isn’t it?” The old man raised his eyebrows.
“Maybe you see it as just a bit of paint, but the message itself is dangerous.” Mr Attorcop summoned his strength to lean in as close as he could get. He spoke in a low whisper, only just loud enough for the bearded man to hear him.
“Not if you agree with it.”
That night Lilian lay comfortably amongst the furs and feathers in her makeshift bed. She was looking at Fritha who was already asleep, her fur almost blending with the dark moose pelt she lay on. Perhaps it was wishful thinking, but Lilian thought she was sleeping a little closer to her than she had done on previous nights. She was going through the lessons they had done that day. Using a handful of the sour berries and buckets of Stephanie’s help, Lilian had managed to make Fritha sit, stay sat while Lilian backed away, come when called and for just a few seconds, Fritha had even followed her closely by her side while she walked around the square. It was slow going, but each little victory was met with applause and hugs from Stephanie and cheers from anyone looking on. Lilian had spoken with Mr Attorcop over dinner, but he hadn’t said much about his progress with the warnings. Restless and distracted Lilian tossed and turned in her covers, unable to sleep. After some time she gave up and went to go and sit by the fire pit. She realised that she had not practised fighting that day, nor had she done her morning’s attention exercises. Not wanting to fall behind in her practise again, she closed her eyes and began to breathe deeply. She felt her heart rate slow as her breathing got more rhythmic. She focused on the sound of her own breath and was soon able to extend that focus to Mr Attorcop’s breathing and even Fritha’s. She held a state of alertness in her body and found that she could hear the last of the fire’s embers hissing in the ashes. She heard sounds from outside the tent as well. Laughter in the distance from village folk who were enjoying a late evening, the hoot of an owl somewhere in the forest canopy and even the distant shushing of a breeze through leaves. The ability to hear these sounds and witness them without judgement was something Lilian was now quite used to. But, in the darkness of night, unimpaired by the glare of the sun or a groggy morning head she found that her sphere of attention could be pushed even further. With her breath slowed right down her ears could sense the scurrying of tiny feet, perhaps a rat or mouse in the ceiling above her. No, the floorboards next door? Still no. She focused on the small scratching and found it nearly 7 houses away, on a wooden beam in a gap in a wall. And there was more. The setting down of a clay cup, the intimate rustle of bed sheets, the words of a story whispered to a nearly sleeping infant. All this she heard and more, her senses freed by night she explored Hundsberg as if she was a ghost floating unseen through walls and lives. And then, she heard a new sound. Furtive footsteps carefully measured. Each step tested and weighed so that it would not strike the floor with unnecessary noise. A creeping, careful gait of one who went unwishing to be heard. But Lilian heard. She heard the creak of the leather sole, she sensed the vibration of each foot as it fell. And next to it, was another sound. A wet sound like water only thicker. It moved with each new step, sloshing and mixing in a small space. A bucket perhaps? Lilian almost moved her attention away but a question called her back. Who was fetching water at this hour? She thought. And why be so secretive? Unless… Unless it wasn’t water. Her heart quickened and with it her breathing sped up. She felt as though her attention was being sucked back, down the streets, through the door of the main hut and over the fire pit. Lilian opened her eyes as soon as she was back in her own head. Not water, she thought,
Paint!
Benlunar - Episode 13
Hounds about town.
The Roads of Alicium run through it like veins
From small paths down mountains to city built lanes
They’ll guide you home or take you away
Or make you visit village that begs you to stay
Up through the pass, down through the grass
Stick to your map, veer not from the path
Or perhaps take an unfamiliar bend
After all, the aim of the song is the tune not the end
How had she not heard it? How did it manage to sneak up on them and pounce without so much as a rustle of a leaf? Was this her journey’s end? Did she leave Benlunar and make it all this way just to die in the forest, eaten by a pack of wild dogs? Lilian was thinking all these things and more, a million questions running through her mind. But they were the wrong questions, they were questions that belonged in the past. The question she should be asking was this: why was the dog not attacking? It had managed to knock her over, it had its jaws open, poised inches from Lilian’s exposed neck, and yet it was not moving. Once Lilian realised this, she began to breathe again. They were sharp, quick breaths, the only ones she could manage in her state of shock. Slowly, the questions in her mind subsided and she was able to gather new information. She could feel the dogs hot breath on her face and she balked when she smelt it. Its mouth was so close she even felt saliva dripping from its teeth onto her skin. She craned her neck slowly to try and get a better a look at it. It was large, that much she knew from feeling the weight of it on her chest and stomach. Its coat was brown and wire haired and it had a wide forehead. It seemed to be frozen, like Kissandra was, trapped by a spell or some demonic power. But when Lilian noticed a tight cord attached to a collar around its neck, the dog’s strange behaviour began to make sense. It's beady brown eyes were fixed in a glare at her throat, the occasional blink or flicker the only betrayers of them belonging to a natural, living beast. The cord stretched behind it and into the shadows. It occasionally moved but did not slack. A similar cord stretched parallel beside it, Lillian guessed this was attached to a similar dog that must have caught Mr Attorcop off guard, just as this one had caught her. She heard his voice break the tense silence,
"Lilian? Are you alr…" he was cut off by a loud bark, loud even to Lilian. She attempted to answer him,
"I'm fine…" but her response was met by a similar shout from the animal on top of her. It's head was so close to hers the bark rang in her ears and forced her body to constrict in shocked tension.
Just then, a voice came out of the darkness. It was low and smooth with a singing, rhythmic edge. It came from the other end of the cords like a grim version of a child's game where strings are attached to bowls or cups.
"Please do not try to speak, or move." the voice spoke calmly. Lilian guessed it was a man's voice. A woman's joined it almost instantly, a lighter tone but with a similar singing accent.
"They won't hurt you unless we tell them to." Lilian was not calmed by her words. If anything, the woman's chilling detachment from the seriousness of the situation unnerved her even more. They waited a few more seconds, Lilian's chest was beginning to ache with the weight of the dog. As she began to regain composure, Lillian realised that this must be some sort of intimidation tactic. The dogs could have ripped out her throat ages ago so all this theatrical show off strength must be designed to scare her more than hurt her. Well, thought Lilian, it's worked. I'm stiff as a board and absolutely terrified. She wondered if Mr Attorcop was feeling the same way. A whistle came out of the darkness and the dog shut its mouth and instantly dismounted. Lilian breathed in deeply and sat up. She felt movement by her side and realised her hand was shaking. She looked over at Mr Attorcop and could see, even through the dim light, that he was white as a sheet. The two dogs, who looked very similar, were dutifully sat in front of them seemingly awaiting further instruction. Lilian jerked her head around to see if she could see Fritha but the Feinhound must have sensed danger and done its famous disappearing act.
Lilian heard the crunching of leaves under foot and gazed into the shadows beyond the two dogs. A man and a woman faded slowly into focus. They were both wearing dark green and brown colours that let them blend effortlessly into the forest. They could have been 10 feet off the path and Lilian wouldn't have noticed. Their camouflage was aided by cowls and masks decorated with leaves and mud. Lilian could see the man's cold blue eyes staring down at her. He held a leather ball in his right hand which was attached to a cord which he was tightly coiling around his left arm, Lillian noticed how careful and dextrous he was about keeping the cord tight as he approached. The woman beside him was doing the same thing. They both carried foot long knives in dark sheaths on their belts and bows on their backs. Lilian felt sweat forming on her brow. Were they about to get robbed? She thought about the advice her father had given her and was mentally preparing to hand over everything in her pack and pockets when Mr Attorcop spoke.
"Your hounds are very impressive." There was no response. Mr Attorcop tried again. "Apologies if we're trespassing. We were trying to stick to the main road, there's a chance that in the dying light we went astray. We mean you no harm and we thank you for calling off your dogs."
No response.
"If you have no business with us we'll be on our way."
The two mysterious rangers looked at each other and then back to Lilian and Mr Attorcop. The woman uttered a word in a language Lilian didn't understand. The two dogs stood up and Lilian winced expecting a similar attack, but they merely approached them with their noses in the air twitching and sniffing all around them. Seemingly satisfied the dogs the trotted back to their handlers and sat patiently by their sides. This confused the man.
"You carry no steel?" he enquired.
"We are scholars and travellers who have no need for weapons and who would not know what to do with them if we had them! My name is Cressido Botham and this is my niece, Amelia." Lilian shot him a sideward glance. The lies spilled from his lips as easily as ale from a tap. Lilian suddenly realised why they practised fighting with sticks each night. Nothing contradicts the phrase 'we mean you no harm' like a blade on your belt.
"We thank you for your cooperation and apologise for our rude introduction" the woman visibly relaxed and approached, dropping her cloth mask from her mouth and exposing thick brown hair and a round, smiling face with bright green, intelligent eyes.
"These woods can be dangerous places and we prefer to be safe than sorry. Are you hurt?" Lilian shook her head and looked at the man, he still wore his mask and huffed when his friend apologised.
"Normally we would have no need to stop you." She continued, "but we are very interested in your friend and we would like to show them to our community." Lilian was shocked. Why would they be interested in her? thought. Maybe they don't have red haired people in their town? She though.
"You're interested in… Me?" She asked, "Why?"
"Oh no, so sorry for the confusion. I'm sure you're lovely but we are interested in that.” She pointed to her right towards an empty spot by a small tree. Lilian thought she must have bumped her head when she got knocked over because the woman wasn’t pointing at anything. But after a second she saw Fritha open her eyes and shimmer into sight. Everybody gazed at her in amazement, including it seemed, the two dogs. They eagerly sniffed the air, desperate to understand this new creature but sure enough of their own safety not to bark or attack without prompt. Lilian sighed, that made more sense.
“How did you spot her?” She enquired. This time, it was the man that replied.
“We’ve been tracking you through the forest. We saw it when it was visible and have kept a constant eye on it since. If you look away for even a second, you could lose… her.”
“Do you have a name for her?” Asked the woman, smiling.
“Fritha.” Lilian felt Mr Attorcop glaring at her. He hadn’t exactly told her not to name the feinhound but Lilian guessed it would not have been his first decision.
“It’s a beautiful name. My name is Stephanie and this is Bardat.” She gestured to her friend who gave a surly nod, “And these are Pippin and Leonardo.” And the mention of his name, Leonardo gave a happy, high pitched yap, all animosity and aggression completely gone, it was as if Lilian was looking at a different dog from the one that had pushed her over only moments ago. Leionardo turned and marched up to Stephanie wagging his tail and occasionally looking back at Lilian.
“What’s he doing?” She asked.
“He’s asking me if it’s okay to meet you. Do you like dogs?” Lilian nodded and saw Stephanie look down and give a slight gesture towards her. Leonardo took his cue and bounded up to Lilian, his tongue hanging out as he began licking her legs for attention. Lilian giggled and bent down to stroke his ears, this calmed her. Suddenly, Fritha took a couple of steps towards them, the now familiar low chimes sounding in her throat. She seemed displeased.
“Oh, be careful!” Said Stepahnie, “I think Fritha is jealous.” Lilian smiled at the notion but then realised it made sense. Fritha did have an air of anger about her, her coat was even shifting into a dark red with white patches. Lilian stood up and backed away from Leonardo to show her that everything was alright. Leonardo didn’t seem to care.
“I’m very glad that everyone has now met properly, but if we could get back to the matter at hand.” Mr Attorcop appeared to be running out of patience, “You mentioned something about your community? Do you live in these woods?”
“For now yes.” replied Bardat. Stephanie shot him a stern look. “Please, you will come with us.”
“Of course, we are not forcing you.” Said Stephanie, “But if you follow us and you bring Fritha, we will happily give you supplies for your journey and even a bed if you wish to stay the night.” Lilian looked to Mr Attorcop for guidance. They had just picked up supplies, but they would keep an extra day. He looked down at Lilian and raised his eyebrows. She shrugged and smiled.
“Very well. What is your settlement called, so that I may place it on a map.” Mr Attorcop lifted up his pack and made to follow them.
“Our town is not on maps and we prefer it like this.” said Stephanie. “But it is called Hundsberg.”
The two forest folk took Mr Attorcop and Lilian into the trees where they avoided paths and roads for some time. The two dogs, Pippin and Leonardo led the way and Lilian guessed that they were following them to Hundsberg because there were no visible markers or beaten paths through the dense, dark wood. Lilian walked beside Stephanie with Fritha, ablaze in shimmering blue padding close by. The dogs were big but Fritha still towered over them. Lilian would occasionally reach out to try and touch her coat, but still she shied away from her hand.
“She does not know you.” Said Stephanie, observing the interaction. Lilian shook her head.
“She’s been following us for ages but I don’t know why.”
“Because she likes you.” Said Stephanie with a wink.
“How can you tell?” Stephanie thought for a second.
“Well, this is my first time seeing a Angsthund but where I come from we work a lot with dogs.” She pointed at Leonardo who’s head was currently buried in a burrow. Lilian enjoyed the way Stephanie moved and gestured as she spoke, together with her tuneful voice it reminded Lilian of when brother Thomas would conduct the church choir.
“Everyone has at least one dog, we get our first dog when we are 5 years old and so when you are always around these animals you learn how to read them. When I look at Fritha I see that she wants to be near you, but she is still unsure.” Lilian felt a pang of sorrow for Fritha.
“Hang on,” She said, “You’ve had Leonardo since you were 5??”
“Goodness no,” Laughed Stephanie, “Leo is my 3rd dog. My first dog’s name was Gumdrop.” Lilian looked up at her, eyebrows curled in a question.
“What? I was five years old ok?” Lilian laughed and bent down to pat Leonardo’s large flat back. She noticed that Mr Attorcop was falling a few feet behind them as they walked, his expression was sullen and serious. Lilian stopped walking so that he caught up with her.
“Are you alright?” She asked.
“Hm? Oh, yes. Fine.” He didn’t seem quite himself but Lilian felt it might be rude to push. She remembered Mr Attorcop’s own lesson about listening and so she joined him and waited until he spoke again.
“It’s just… that really could have been it for us. I was taken completely by surprise and was left defenceless. You could have been killed.” Lilian stayed quiet, she had thought the same thing not long ago. Mr Attorcop lowered his voice.
“In all our combat training and defence lessons, I never really mentioned that if someone decides to sneak up on you and attack from behind, there’s really nothing you can do about it. I let you down Lilian and I blame myself. I was careless and you could have been killed.” Lilian thought about this for a second, something didn’t quite add up.
“You don’t have to blame yourself. You don’t even have to worry because, well, we weren’t hurt. Yes we could have been, but we were lucky. It’s like you were saying earlier today about being in control of things. We didn’t decide to get attacked but these guys did decide to be nice to us once they saw that we meant no harm, and we had a part to play in that by not carrying any knives or bows or whatever. It’s all sort of linked and our decisions did influence our safety so if we keep making decisions like the ones we’re making now, we should be okay!” Mr Attorcop looked at Lilian as she walked. Since the day they had started training he knew that she was strong and that she would be able to hold her own in any test of physical prowess, but it seemed as though her mind was just as sharp. She had grasped the concept of determinism and applied it readily to their present situation.
“You know Lilian, just because we’re not always in direct control of what we do and what think, that doesn’t mean that our words and actions don’t have consequences.”
“I know.” Replied Lilian kicking up a clump of leaves as she walked. “We do have to be careful so as not to hurt others. I see it as a sort of ship. We can steer the ship even though the waves and tides move the water, sometimes the ship might not go where we want it to, but we still have more say in its direction than if we did nothing at all.” Mr Attorcop smiled. Back in Benlunar, a part of him had dreaded this long journey with no one but a teenage girl to talk to. But now he realised that he had underestimated Lilian Lausanne once again. Something he swore he would never do. She was becoming quite the philosopher. Perhaps, he thought, he would discuss her opinion on art and music next. He considered asking her what she thought about the two strangers that had accosted them on the road, but a strange sound interrupted his train of thought.
“Can you hear that?” Asked Lilian. Mr Attorcop nodded and slowly reached for a vial of Lunar essence he had hidden in his sleeve. The sound was coming from over a muddy ridge, for the first time in their treck through the trees, Lilian saw what looked like a pathway running up it. It was slick with mud and climbing it would prove tricky, especially if you were in a hurry. The noise grew louder as they approached, it sounded to Lilian like wailing or crying, but from a hundred voices all in different intensities. It sent shivers down her back. It wasn’t until they reached the small hill that it became clear. The voices and shouts grew more distinct and Lilian realised that it was the sound of dogs. A chorus of barks and howls grew stronger and greeted them as they crested the mound. Stephanie grabbed Lilian’s hand and helped her scramble up the last few steps, when she raised her head she was greeted by an astonishing site. Hidden amidst the trees and mud banks was a cluster of houses. They were encompassed by mud hills similar to the one Lilian was standing on so it looked as if the community was built within a large bowl. Lilian didn’t have time to count but there must have been over 100 buildings, including a large structure at the other end of the bowl that seemed to be a central church or meeting place. Although the buildings were created from mud, clay and branches, they were not dirty or unkempt. In fact, if they had been painted white or blue they would have resembled any house in the nicer parts of Benlunar. Dotted amongst the small streets were people of all ages. There were old women coming out of doorways, there were children gathered around fire pits. Every single person had a dog with them and they were all looking directly at Lilian and Mr Attorcop. The dogs were barking and howling, strangers, they seemed to shout, there are people here and we do not know them. From the crowd, a tall woman with thick brown hair and broad shoulders emerged. Trotting alongside her was a large, feral looking dog with saliva dripping off its jowls and a hungry look in its eye. She approached the muddy hill and raised her right hand and flicked it as if she was batting away a mosquito by her face. In an instant, every single dog stopped barking. The sudden silence felt eerie. It was as if she had blown out a candle and plunged the village into darkness. The torches and fires around them however were still lit and their cracking and burbling was now the only source of sound. Lilian’s eyes widened as the woman approached. She had never seen such a tall and powerful lady. If she went to Benlunar, she would easily be the tallest woman there, perhaps even the tallest person full stop. Her eyes were bright green and she wore a bear hide around her chest, tightened with leather belts and straps. Her boots were leather as well and they looked sturdy and strong. When she got within ear shot she spoke. She had the same singing accent that Stephanie and Bardat shared, but her voice was sharper and more serious.
“Stephanie,” She began, her shout sounding almost like a bark. She then started to speak in a language that Lilian didn’t understand. Her expression and tone were severe. The tone was lyrical but she spat and cracked her words with a sharp tongue. Lilian was pleased that this woman’s anger was not directed at her. Stephanie seemed close to tears when her time finally came to reply. Her back hunched and her gaze dropped, she reminded Lilian of when she was getting a telling off by her Mother. Hang on… thought Lilian, could this be? They did share the same colour eyes, Lilian noticed. Just then, she heard Stephanie say a word that she recognised, Angsthund. She had said it in the forest earlier but Lilian had forgotten to ask what it meant. At the mention of the word all eyes turned to Fritha who was at that moment, crouched behind Lilian. When Lilian moved aside to show her off a wave of whispers spread through the crowd. The tall woman’s expression softened in understanding. She said a phrase that Lilian hoped was an apology and then spoke directly to Mr Attorcop.
“Thank you for coming here. I apologise if you were taken against your wishes. Please, would you follow me and we can talk. You are welcome to stay here tonight.” She spoke with ease and surety. As with every decision made on the trip so far, Lilian looked to Mr Attorcop for the final say. He nodded and began making his way into the bowl. Lilian followed him and kept close by as they made their way through the main street of Hundsberg.
As they walked, Lilian felt a hundred pairs of eyes on her and Fritha. Some folks nodded as they past, some turned to their neighbour to whisper excitedly. Most were smiling but Lilian picked out the occasional stony faced citizen who would turn away if Lilian met their gaze. Fritha stayed close by, ignoring the multitude of dogs that sniffed at her heels as she towered past them. The tall woman, who Lilian guessed must be the head of the community, led them to the big building at the end of the main road that she had seen from the mound. The building was large and built from interlocking tree trunks, meshed together with mud and animal skins. Two large wood sculptures flanked the entrance, they looked like dogs stood upright with clearly human hands. The one on the left held a ball and the one on the right held a spear. The doorway was covered by a thick curtain which pulled back to reveal a large circular room with a fire pit in the middle. The fire was down to embers so the room was very hot as they entered. Lilian was glad for the warmth. The Summer days were generally nice but the nights still got bitterly cold at times. The tall woman gestured to some fur clad seats by the fire and the group sat down. Fritha had been nervous about entering the building, but once she was inside she found a soft spot a little way away from them to curl up and sleep. The dogs belonging to Stephanie and the rest promptly did the same. Lilian wished she could join them, the heat of the room combined with her exhaustion from walking made sleep an attractive prospect.
“Bardat, please could you fetch our guests something to drink?” The tall woman sat as she spoke, her hand mindlessly went to her side where her dog quickly found it with its ears. She began to scratch them absent-mindedly as Bardat left the room, followed by Pippin.
“My name is Zinnia. I am looking after this community right now. This is Otto.” She gestured to her dog, “Again, I am sorry if we have disturbed your journey.” She directed the sentiment to both of them, but it was Mr Attorcop who spoke first.
“That’s quite alright. I understand that it’s not everyday that you see one of these creatures.” He gestured over to Fritha who was wearing a dark purple coat and snoring softly. “We’re happy for your community to see her but I’m afraid we cannot stay long.” Zinnia thought on this for a few seconds,
“It is not just that she is rare Mr..”
“Botham.” Mr Attorcop replied, Lilian was thankful for the reminder as she had forgotten what name she was supposed to be assuming.
“Mr Bottom.” Zinnia continued, “As you can see we work very closely with animals, this has been our way of life for many years. This creature to many people here is like a sign, a message from the fates or some kind of omen. Look.” She reached into the neck line of her hide shirt and pulled out a pendant hanging from a black leather chord. She leant forward so that Lilian could see it clearly. It was a hollowed-out circle of stone with the carving of a four legged animal in its centre. The stone was a beautiful shade of blue whose colour danced in the fire light, making it seem like it was changing. Lilian saw flashes of red and yellow and was instantly reminded of Fritha’s iridescent fur.
“We see maybe 1 or two of these every 100 years and every time we see one it has heralded great change to our way of lives. It is interesting that we meet you today, of all days.”
“Why?” Asked Lilian. Zinnia let out a long and weary sigh. For the first time, Lilian noticed the dark lines under her eyes.
“It started about a month ago. The village awoke from a peaceful night. One of the children, his name is Gerhart, screamed when he saw it and the village came running. He was playing round the back of this building, I was there as quickly as I could be. We’ve washed it off now but someone in the night had written a message on the wall.” She paused her story to look up at the entrance. The curtain drew back and Bardat came in holding a few cups. Zinnia waited for him to hand them out. Lilian took the clay cup happily. It was warm to the touch, the liquid inside was dark and smelled sweet. She wondered what it was and was about to ask when she realised that interrupting Zinnia’s story might be rude. Instead she waited for Bardat to take his leave and took a sip of the warm, thick drink. It was sweet and delicious, like warm milk and honey but thicker and dark. Once Mr Attorcop had drunk deeply from his own cup, he spoke,
“What did it say, this message?” Zinnia finished her drink in one or two quick gulps and set her cup down by Otto who quickly began to lick the inside of it.
“It was a warning, the words were not in our language but we could read them. It was telling us to leave, it was saying that bad things would happen if we stayed where we are.” Mr Attorcop interrupted.
“Can you remember the exact words?” Zinnia paused to think.
“Leave this place or stay and suffer. Take your dirty ways and filthy beasts and never return.” Saying the words seemed to cause Zinnia a degree of physical pain as she winced and spat them out, as if leaving them on her tongue might poison her.
“And I see you didn’t heed the warning.” Said Mr attorcop, Zinnia was taken aback.
“Of course not. We have lived here for generations, I can’t just upheave an entire town because someone wrote some words on a wall.” Lilian was listening intently and occasionally sipping her drink.
“Did anything else happen because you decided to stay?” She asked. Zinnia nodded.
“About a week later we were all woken up again by shouts from a house down the street. The roof had caught fire and was spreading quickly.”
“Could it have been an accident?” Asked Mr Attorcop. Zinnia shrugged.
“Maybe. But the next day there was more writing on the other side of town. Someone probably started the fire and then took advantage of us being distracted to write it. This time it was ‘Get out dog people.’ Very polite.” Zinnia snorted in derision, “Since then we’ve had a couple of other incidents but nothing too serious. My fear as that they will do something drastic soon. I don’t want to have to leave this place but if we don’t find out who’s responsible soon, we may not have a choice.” She looked down at Otto who was asleep, his legs occasionally jerking as if he might be chasing something in a dream. She smiled sweetly and Lilian could see love in her eyes. She loved her canine companion and she loved her community, that much Lilian was sure of, it was so plain to see it may as well have been written on the wall. No one spoke for some time, Stephanie placed a log on the fire and Lilian watched the embers spark as the log began to catch.
“Do you have any ideas about who it could be?” She asked, “Is there a Lord nearby that owns the forest? Or a neighboring town that wants to expand?” Stephanie sat back down next to Lilian and sighed, “No one owns this forest that we know of. The nearest town is a day’s walk towards the river. It’s a small place with mills built by the water to process grain. I went with Bardat to speak with them a couple of days after the first message and they didn’t know anything about it. There’s a chance they might be lying but we have no idea why they would want us to leave. There is a small Inn by the crossroads near where we met you, but they have a good business and don’t seem to care about us.” Lilian looked over at Mr Attorcop. She had expected him to be lost in thought and staring into the embers like Zinnia was, but instead she caught him staring intensely at Zinnia’s dog, Otto.
“When we were approaching the town from the woods.” He said finally, “We could hear a lot of barking and howling from your dogs.” Zinnia nodded,
“Yes. We train them to warn us when there are strangers nearby. They have a great sense of smell and it means we don’t have to post guards.
“And yet,” continued Mr Attorcop, “Someone was able to enter the town, write messages on the walls and leave without any dogs being alerted?” Stephanie nodded,
“That’s the strange thing. The dogs have never noticed. Not once.” Mr Attorcop considered this. Zinnia interjected,
“My theory is that they mask their scent somehow. Maybe coat themselves in mud or animal fat or something like this.” Lilian considered the possibility. It certainly would take a lot of planning and experimenting to fool a town full of dogs. And then she realised something. Perhaps it was her outsiders perspective, her distance from the problem that let her see the bigger picture. She sat up straight as soon as it the idea came into her head. She looked at Mr Attorcop immediately and he seemed to have had a similar realisation.
“What is it?” asked Zinnia. Mr Attorcop gestured to Lilian for her to speak. Lilian was nervous but the more she thought about it, the more obvious it seemed.
“Well… you said that the dogs bark when they sense unknown people. What if, whoever wrote the words… what if they weren’t strangers? What if the dogs knew them?”
Benlunar - Episode 12
The Journey begins.
The Roads of Alicium run through it like veins
From small paths down mountains to city built lanes
They’ll guide you home or take you away
Or make you visit village that begs you to stay
Up through the pass, down through the grass
Stick to your map, veer not from the path
Or perhaps take an unfamiliar bend
After all, the aim of the song is the tune not the end
The morning of the departure was drenched in tears. It was a good thing that the sky was blue and bright because one more drop of water on Lilian’s face may have forced her to change her mind about the whole thing. In fairness, the tears mainly belonged to her mother who inadvertently wiped them onto her cheek with each hug and kiss. Lilian’s pack was ladened with so much bread and dried meat she barely had room for her spare clothes. She had chosen comfort over style to begin her trip to Freedos and was wearing a dark green smock over old woollen leggings that had been dyed orange many years ago. They were all held together by a thin leather belt with a beautiful brass buckle and burnt etchings of ivy leaves around the holes. It had been a parting gift from her father who handed it over to her with some advice: “I’ve never been to Freedos. I’ve barely left Benlunar but a handful of times. But then, ever since you were a baby I knew you would be braver than I. And bravery is good, but don’t be stupid. If you hear my voice, or your mother’s voice in your head warning you against something, listen to it! If you meet strangers, show them kindness. If they do not return it, show them your back, not your fist. If someone tries to rob you, give them what you have. Better to be hungry than dead. Remember to listen and ask questions. People love talking about themselves and this skill will bring you many friends. And the day, the minute no, the second you feel like coming home. You come home. You understand?” Lilian nodded. She could feel her own tears escaping now and she looked down to her side to see the cocked head of Fritha staring back at her. Her father looked at the feinhound too. “I would say don’t get into trouble, but I have no idea who in their right mind would attack you with this beast by your side. Keep it close. Treat it fairly.” The feinhound had resumed its habit of following Lilian around that morning and didn’t seem as though it was likely to stop any time soon. Lilian didn’t mind. With Fritha by her side last night, she had slept soundly. The feinhound looked at her father and he instinctively stepped back a few paces. Polly Lausanne stepped forward once more and knelt in front of her daughter. Lilian braced herself for another teary hug but instead her mother simply took her hand and looked into her eyes.
“Remember my love. When the winds and storms rage, the mountain remains still. Wherever you go, whatever happens, remember to hold the mountain in your heart, and the storm can never hurt you.” Lilian smiled and glanced up behind her mother, Benlunar peak was standing proudly against the sky. Lilian smiled and although she didn’t quite understand exactly what her mother meant, she enjoyed the image and said a little promise to herself that she would remember her parents words in the months to come.
Lilian didn’t set off up the leafy pathway to Benlunar central. Instead, she went into the trees and followed the small cliff edge round to Benlunar’s entrance from the mountain path. This was the spot where she had agreed to meet Mr Attorcop the night before, it took a little while longer to get there but it avoided the main streets and square of the town and therefore avoided any unwanted questions about Fritha. The feinhound didn’t seem to mind the walk, she was wearing her shaggy coat, which blended well with the brown leaves and earth around them and had the added advantage of making her look like a big mountain dog. Lilian didn’t know for sure that Fritha was a girl, It just felt right, and she certainly hadn’t seen any evidence pointing to the contrary. They reached Benlunar’s only entrance half an hour later and saw Mr Attorcop waiting patiently just outside the main gates. Benlunar was only accessible by road from the one mountain path making it surprisingly easy to defend should the need arise. The need however, hadn’t arisen in so long that the main gates were practically rusted into place. Although they were called gates, they looked more like large wooden doors. They had carvings of animals and plants all over them and stood several feet taller than even Mr Attorcop. Lilian waved and Mr Attorcop nodded his head in acknowledgment. As Lilian came out from the tree line she noticed that Mr Attorcop only carried a large pack, similarly filled to the brim as Lilian’s was.
“Where are your things?” She asked.
“Good morning to you too. I sent them on ahead in a caravan this morning. They should be waiting for us at my quarters when we arrive in Freedos.”
“Why aren’t we going with the caravan?”
“I’m considering stopping off a few places before reaching Freedos, the caravan would only slow us down.”
Lilian paused and took a deep breath. She turned to stare through the gates. Benlunar was just waking up, she could see curtains being drawn through tiny windows, smoke starting to seep through chimneys and as if to put a bow on the gift that was her home she began to hear the bowl bells singing from the top of the Stave Church announcing the dawn. She gazed at the spire and at the cobbled street ahead of her and she smiled.
“Right. What are we waiting for?”
It wasn’t until midway through the afternoon that they reached the valley floor. They had navigated successfully through the dark cave which acted as a shortcut for those not on horseback and had come out at the mouth on the other side, near the valley floor. Navigating the cave was simple enough, they just had to follow the small river running out from inside the mountain. The icy stream fell over rocks and boulders as they found daylight once again. Mr Attorcop remarked that the stream would soon meet others from all over the valley and they would eventually gather to become the mighty river Wyrid that ran through the centre of Freedos.
“Why don’t we find the river and take a boat to Freedos?” Asked Lilian as she picked her way over damp stones, careful not to fall.
“The water is still too shallow and quick at this altitude.”
“Altitude?” repeated Lilian, “I thought we were off the mountains now.”
“We are, but we’re still very high up compared to Freedos, which is near the ocean.” Lilian found her footing and gazed at the valley around her. The trees were in full summer greens and the sound of water trickled and burbled all around them. Lilian had been to the mouth of this cave before. Once when she was younger she visited the fields on the valley floor where Benlunar got most of its grain and fish. They were layered in tiers so that water would trickle down from one, skip one and fill the next. That what the wheat was irrigated by the water filling every other field, within which were thousands of jumping snapping fish. They were all owned by one family, the Repsons, and were one of the last stops that visitors to Benlunar would make before either heading up the main path or (if you were brave enough) into the mouth of the cave. Lilian was excited to see the fields again. She glanced over at Fritha who was lapping up some water. She noticed that Fritha’s tongue was purple which made her smile. How many more surprises do you have in store for us? She thought.
Once they reached the road again Lilian decided to tell Mr Attorcop about her strange encounter with Brother Thomas. She had been meaning to do this for some time, but things kept getting in the way. She realised though, that this long journey would give her the opportunity to learn more about him and perhaps find a satisfying answer to why someone from The Guiding Hand would want him dead. Fritha padded by their side, her coat a lustrous gold that was catching the afternoon sun and reflecting dancing lights around their feet. Birds sang as they walked and Mr Attorcop listened intently. When Lilian finished her story, about how Brother Thomas grew up on the streets of Freedos and was offered money and work by a mysterious group known as The Guiding Hand, Mr Attorcop’s brow furrowed in thought. After several minutes of silent walking he spoke,
“A few months ago I was employed by a noble woman. She asked me to help her son gain favour with the Empress. My suspicion is that she wanted them to marry. So I set about spreading a few rumours around court about her boy, I think his name was Edward.”
“What did you say?” ssked Lilian, intrigued.
“Oh the usual. Have you heard that Lord Edward saved a beggar girl from a gang of soldiers? Did you know Lord Edward has a scar on his back from fighting a lion? It doesn’t really matter what you say as long as you repeat the name enough and you talk to the right people. Not everyone has a talent for gossip but there are those in court who live for it. You tell them stories about this amazing young man and pretty soon everyone at court will be mentioning his name. I also adjusted his wardrobe and gave him some lessons in how to behave, which, by the way, I’ll need to teach you as well.” Lilian’s eyes widened and she faltered in her step. Court? She thought. I don’t want to go to court! What if someone talks to me? What would I wear?? She was just imagining being laughed at by a group of high society noblewomen when Mr Attorcop spoke again.
“Thing is, I thought I’d done rather well. Lord Edward didn’t have a natural way with words so I told him to assume the role of the silent soldier. I organised a few events at social gatherings at which he could play the part and I actually got him to speak alone with the Empress for over 20 minutes. Even I didn’t expect it to work that well. Unfortunately I had to go to Benlunar before I could learn how the meeting went. Judging by our visit from Bana House though I assume it didn’t go well.”
“You think Lord Edward’s Mother is part of The Guiding Hand?” asked Lilian.
“That’s where this all gets messy. This “Guiding Hand” nonsense, which by the way is a silly name, murkies the water quite considerably. It is of course possible that Lady Florentina is part of the group, but I have no idea why they would want to get rid of me.” Lilian walked on in silence. Fritha was ahead of them crouching low by the side of the road. Her eyes were wide as if she’d just spotted something in the grass. Lilian turned back to Mr Attorcop who was adjusting a strap on his pack.
“Why did you come to Benlunar?” Mr Attorcop replied absent mindedly.
“You know why. For my research.”
“Yes but, what are you researching exactly?”
“My word you really haven’t been paying attention have you?” Lilian blushed. From what she saw over the past few months, Mr Attorcop had been gathering leaves and plants and doing experiments on them with the lunar essence.
“I have been paying attention. You just never tell me anything! If I’m going to learn how to use essence like you then you might want to start telling me things.”
“Like what?” he replied. Lilian huffed,
“I dunno! Like. What is it? Where does it come from? How do you know how to use it? How long until it runs out? Are we in trouble if it does??” Mr Attorcop put his hands up calmly to halt the tirade of questions. Fritha pounced into the bushes and momentarily disappeared from view.
“Lilian, you need to start trusting yourself. I’m not always going to be by your side to answer every question that pops into your head. You already know the answer to most of those questions.” Lilian was taken aback.
“If I knew the answers I wouldn’t have asked the questions would I?” She ran out in front of Mr Attorcop and walked backwards for a moment. His steady pace was getting boring and she wanted to look him in the eye when he answered her.
“Very well then. I take it you remember what I said at the top of Benlunar about the natural world?” Lilian cast her mind back. She didn’t enjoy remembering that day because of how it ended, but she nodded as she recalled their conversation at the peak.
“You said we can gain power from it. And eventually manipulate it.”
“That’s right. So, in line with that way of thinking, where do you think Lunar essence comes from?”
“The natural world?”
“Yes. And you saw explicitly didn’t you? That night at the Padda Stone.”
“It was like, it came from the moon.” Mr Attorcop nodded.
“The moon certainly has something to do with its appearing. As far as I can tell, Benlunar is the only place in the world where lunar essence can be found.” As they walked, Lilian fell back into step with Mr Attorcop and the two nodded a greeting to an older man and a young woman, probably his daughter, who were leading a cart and donkey up the path towards them. Lilian was thankful for Fritha’s absence.
“Does that mean there are other types of essence?” She asked, once the strangers were out of earshot.
“Yes. I’ve heard stories of other kinds but I’ve never actually seen or held any. My theory is that they have their own set of circumstances that brings them into creation, much like what we saw with the lunar essence.”
Who taught you how to use it?” Lilian smiled as she was finally managing to piece things together.
“You know that too.” Replied Mr Attorcop. Lilian searched her memory. She was certain that she had no idea. But then something from last night popped into her head.
“Not… Mrs Thoreson?” Mr Attorcop nodded. “What!?” Lilian shouted, a few birds were disturbed from their branches and took off in shock. Lilian lowered her voice. “Does that mean she really is your Aunt?” Again, this was greeted by another nod.
“She’s actually my great Aunt. She was taught by her father. But she only taught me the very basics. I’ve spent years conducting my own research and found essence to be far more malleable and surprising than even she thought it to be.” Lilian was astounded.
“What’s a Nocta?” she asked. At this, Mr Attorcop snorted. Lilian couldn’t be sure if it was a laugh or a sign of disdain.
“Nothing. Just a silly old world for one who is in training. If you’re a boy you’re a Nocto and if you’re a girl you’re a Nocta. No one really uses the words anymore though.” Lilian quite liked the words and thought it a shame that they were no longer in use.
“Finally,” Mr Attorcop spoke again, “I’m afraid no one can answer your last two questions, not even you. I don’t know when the essence will run out and I don’t know if we will be in trouble when it does. But considering that it’s an issue and one that you quite rightly raise, what do you think the subject of my research has been of late?” Lilian thought for a second.
“You’re trying to find a way to make the essence last longer.”
“Indeed.” Replied Mr Attorcop with a somewhat serious tone. “When my great aunt was practising they only had the one bottle to keep it in. It took two years for me to find out what it was made of and I had to travel to Kerakis to have my vials forged from the same sands. I could try and make more of them but the problem would persist. Eventually, it runs out and I have to wait years for the moon to be in position again. A lot of the techniques I have developed don’t use up the Essence quickly, but that doesn’t mean the bottles can’t be lost or stolen.” Lilian looked up to see Mr Attorcop staring intently at the road ahead. He seemed to be wrestling with inner demons, his eyebrows were contorted in a scowl. “It is a most vexing issue. The worst part of it is that I cannot experiment freely with the essence for fear of using up the small supply I have.” At this point Fritha reappeared. She was a bright greeny blue and she held a dead rabbit in her mouth. Her lower eyelids were raised from holding it which made her look very self satisfied. Lilian suddenly thought of another question.
“What would you do if you had as much essence as you could carry? And that finding more was not a problem.” Mr Attorcop did not answer straight away. In fact he was quiet for some time. Finally he said,
“I’m sorry Lilian, I cannot tell you that in this moment. It’s not that I wish to keep secrets from you. Quite the opposite. It’s just that I have my own reasons for seeking power and I fear that if you knew them you might judge me.” Lilian was stunned. Why would this old man fear judgement from one as young as her? Did her opinion of him mean that much? She thought better than to push the subject. Mr Attorcop took a deep breath and spoke in a lighter tone.
“But there. I told you that you knew more than you thought. You need to start trusting your intuition and your ability to deduce information. It will help you greatly in your practises. Speaking of which, have you been practising the attention exercise I explained on the mountain? Lilian felt her face flush with colour. She had fully intended to practise but suddenly realised that she hadn’t given the exercise a second thought since walking off the mountain and into Benlunar that day. She opened her mouth to speak when Mr Attorcop rolled his eyes.
“No need for excuses. I know you’ve been going through a lot. But if you’re serious about this life and this journey we’re going to start practising again. That includes our combat. We will fight each night before sleep and we will practise attention each morning before breakfast. Whilst walking I will teach you any lessons I see relevant to your education.” Lilian agreed and the two continued to walk behind Fritha. No one had mentioned what they were going to do about the giant, colour changing animal that appeared to be joining them on this journey. But perhaps that was a problem for another day. For now, Lilian enjoyed the sunshine on her face and the thought of adventure around the corner.
The next few days they observed Mr Attorcop’s schedule to the letter. Each morning when they woke they would spend several minutes in silence, listening to and observing the world around them. Fritha at first became very confused at this behaviour. She would get extremely close to Lilian, the closest she’d ever been and sniff her while she sat. She would then jump back, hoping to provoke movement or a reaction. But after the third day she became used to it and would even sit with them while they practised. Lilian could hear her breathing and her strange, chime-like purring. During the days they would walk and Mr Attorcop would instruct Lilian on various histories or number problems. Lilian enjoyed learning about the old civilisations that came before them, the languages they spoke and customs they held. She did not enjoy her politics lessons. These seemed to exclusively consist of reasons why various people wanted each other dead. Some made sense, but others were outright ridiculous. For all their evening sparring sessions Lilian still found herself to be very much against using violence to solve problems. Mr Attorcop said that this was an admirable trait but one that would tested above all others in the coming years. Despite her desires to not want to hurt others, their nightly training sessions meant that she was getting rather good at it. They trained as the light was disappearing, meaning that the sessions would end in almost complete darkness. Mr Attorcop said it was good to train in the dark so that Lilian could get used to sensing her opponents instead of relying on them showing her their next move. If they couldn’t find sticks to fight with, they would spar with fists and Lilian would learn how to grapple, choke and twist limbs to gain advantage. She enjoyed moving and learning about the body and how it could be manipulated, but seeing as they were just training, she still never actually hit anyone. And she never beat Mr Attorcop. Not even when she thought she was getting close, right at the last minute he would twist out of her grasp and push her away or pull her into his own manoeuvre which she would then have to block or evade. Fritha would look on from the shadows, amused at these graceless apes fumbling about in the dark, not evening using their teeth!
After 2 weeks Lilian felt exhaustion starting to really set in. She had felt tired during their daily training sessions back in Benlunar but this was different. When they weren’t fighting, eating, sleeping or practising their attention they were walking and it was this ceaseless movement that was causing Lilian’s bones to ache as well as her feet being ripped to ribbons by her old, worn out boots. One day they rested by the side of a lake and Lilian caught her reflection in the water whilst getting changed. Although they had been eating well she could now see her ribs jutting out like ladder steps. Her fists were hardening, her back ached and the worst part of all of it was that Mr Attorcop barely seemed to be feeling the effects at all! Every morning he woke with the same energy from the day before and it was starting to get on Lilian’s nerves. Her own exhaustion made his habits and mannerisms annoying. She noticed how whenever he ate he would chew his food an inordinate amount of times, one bite of bread could last 40 seconds in his mouth and Lilian couldn’t stand it. It was like watching a cow eat she thought. She even found herself specifically looking away while she eat, Mr Attorcop didn’t seem to notice and if he did, he never mentioned it. The cumulative effect of the exhaustion effected her attention practise more than anything else. Each morning after breakfast when they would close their eyes to listen to the world around them, Lilian would find herself desperately trying to stop sleep from taking her over. She found that she would concentrate more on avoiding going to sleep than on the task at hand. This frustrated her as she enjoyed the attention exercise. There was another thing that bothered her. One instruction that Mr Attorcop would give each day is that she clear her mind of thoughts, or at least, notice when a thought entered her mind. But every time she closed her eyes her mind was so filled with visions of Kilde that she found it difficult to notice when one ended and new one began. She even wondered if her mind was ever clear at all between images of him lying sick on his bed, or playing in the river or sitting at their kitchen table politely eating his soup. It became so pervasive, so insistent on mind that she finally brought it up with Mr Attorcop. It was while they had stopped at an inn to buy more supplies. It was a mid sized building near a water mill, there were other travellers dotted around on large cosy chairs. It reminded Lilian of The Fox & Octopus, only more dusty and worn. Each table had traveller’s names scratched into it and the family that ran it were forever running too and fro trying to keep up with customer orders. Fritha had been instructed to wait on the side of the road, which she instantly disobeyed by dashing off into a clump of trees. Upon hearing her question, Mr Attorcop turned to her and lowered his voice.
“Yes I thought you might run into something like this. Most people do. I’m afraid there is no quick fix. The most important thing is that when you notice thoughts you do not judge them, nor yourself for having them. That would be like judging an apple tree for growing apples. Your mind is doing what comes naturally to it. You’re not in control of that.” Lilian screwed up her face in doubt.
“I’m not in control of what I’m thinking?”
“Not really.” Replied Mr Attorcop casually. “If you were, then you would be consciously deciding when to think of Kilde, instead of having the thoughts appear on their own.” He accepted a large pack of food from the proprietor of the inn and thanked him before walking back outside. Lilian was left stunned and had to run after him to catch up.
“So hang on a second. If I’m not in control of what I’m thinking, does that mean I’m in control of what I’m doing?” She found Mr Attorcop stopped at a fork in the road ahead, distracted.
“Hm? Oh. well… not really.” He looked down the road to his right, it was dotted with pot-holes and signs of decay. Several carts were being packed up outside the Inn, their owners making a similar show of inspecting the battered road ahead. Mr Attorcop then began to walk down the road to his left. This one was less worn and even had grass growing through the middle where cart wheels were yet to tread. This road extended round a grassy hill and up into a dark forest far in the distance. Lilian was almost too distracted with questions about her own autonomy to notice the decision.
“Hang on.” She said, stumbling behind him, “Isn’t that the road to Freedos?” She said, pointing back at the other way.
“That is the quickest road to Freedos. I think you’ll find most roads end up there anyway. This is the long way round.”
“Why are we going the long way round?”
“Because I’m in charge of where we’re going and I don’t want to use that road. It’s too busy and someone might spot that great big cat thing that seems to have attached itself to our party.” As if on cue Fritha appeared from the tall grass. She was dark blue and was wagging her tail as if pleased to see them.
“If we don't control our thoughts." Lilian started up again, following Mr Attorcop, 'how is it that you decided to go left instead of right?"
"I base all my decisions on the experiences I've had throughout my life. However, I have no control over their outcome. Just as i was not in control of where I was born and thus not in control of what experiences I've had in my life." Lilian's head was going round in circles. It was too early in the day for all these riddles. After a few minutes of silent contemplation, she asked,
"So we're not in control of what happens to us. We're not in control of our thoughts. What are we in control of?" Mr Attorcop didn't answer right away. But Lilian saw that he'd clearly given the question a lot of thought over the years. Possibly even since he was her age.
"One might argue that we are in control of our actions. But considering these are largely based on the outcomes of experience and thoughts this argument quickly falls down. Our bodies often dictate our actions and the times they let us down are as numerous as the stars. There really is only one thing we can control in this hectic happy painful thing we call existence and that is our reactions to things." Lilian pondered this for a while as they walked.
"Aren't your reactions based on thoughts and experiences too?" she asked.
"Initially yes." Replied Mr Attorcop, dodging around a puddle left over from a bout of rain two days prior. "But after a few seconds you can make a choice. A real choice. One that is uniquely yours. If you hear something that upsets you for example you can take a moment and then decide how you wish to feel about it. If you don't make the decision consciously, you're bound to be at the mercy of your emotions and memories." Lilian smiled as she considered this. She didn't know if it was true, but the thought of it was comforting. She watched Fritha darting in and out of the tree line beside them, her coat shimmering between colours as she vanished and reappeared, and she wondered if she was in control of the colours upon her, or did they merely react to her thoughts and experiences?
Evening fell as the road veered into the thick mass of dark barked trees. Lilian examined them as they walked, each one was at least as tall as the tallest pine on Benlunar but they’re leaves were large and dark. Because of this any light that made it through the canopy did so with difficulty and Lilian, Mr Attorcop and Fritha were soon walking in near darkness. Mr Attorcop gazed around warily.
“These trees grow so close together. I can barely see the sky. The sound is also strange.” Lilian knew what he meant immediately. She was aware of each falling leaf and footfall on the path. The wide and ridged tree trunks made it so sound could not travel far. It was eerie and quiet, like when it snows.
“Perhaps we should make camp, it’s no use continuing in this…” Mr Attorcop cut himself off as he spun round. Lilian had heard something too and instinctively looked to see where Fritha was before turning to find our what had made the noise. She barely had time to focus her eyes before she felt a heavy form crash into her, knocking the air from her lungs and landing on top of her on the forest floor. Judging by the sound of a crash nearby, Mr Attorcop had just experienced a similar fate. Lilian had closed her eyes in reaction to the hit and now lay on the floor daring not to open them. She heard breathing inches away from her face and felt hot air intermittently wash over her. Whatever it was, it wreaked of meat and decay. Lilian tried to move but the thing would shift its weight to wherever she tried to lift herself off the ground. Slowly, she opened her eyes. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw that a fingers width away from her face were the protruding teeth, wet tongue and snarling throat of an enormous dog.
Benlunar - Season 2 Promo Message
A short message from Simon about the upcoming season 2! Also featuring a special announcement…
Benlunar- Episode 11
The final encounter.
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
Cromwell Attorcop had seen many strange things in his life. This tends to happen when you take an interest in the esoteric. The weird and wonderful things that lie outside the fringes of common knowledge tend to generate bizarre encounters and brilliant stories. But in all his years he had never felt his interest and his fear so piqued as it was in this very moment. On a cool summer’s evening, just outside a funny little mountain town he found himself staring at a creature. His quizzical mind buzzed with a mixture of fear and excitement. It was big, he could tell that even from this distance. It’s head, body and teeth made it seem canine but its ears, eyes and tail contradicted this. Try as he might, he couldn’t place it. Suddenly, it began to move. It’s muscular, heavy body moved with surprising speed and grace. It took a few steps forward and put its feet into the pond in front of it. The water barely ripple as its large feet breeched the surface. It moved with purpose and without shifting its gaze from where he and Lilian stood. Lilian! Mr Attorcop’s attention suddenly snapped out of fascination and back to the danger of the present situation. Beautiful or not, they were still dealing with an unknown and potentially dangerous animal and he had a young woman under his care.
Lilian Lausanne was a few steps behind Mr Attorcop, both literally and mentally. As the Feinhound moved into the water she was still thinking about how happy she was that she wasn’t going mad and that Mr Attorcop could see it too. It wasn’t until she noticed Mr Attorcop reach into his sleeve and pull out a vial of lunar essence that she realised they might be in danger. The liquid shone brightly in the evening darkness and as Mr Attorcop removed the stopper, Lilian was able to see the feinhound’s whole body slip into the water. It kept its head above the surface and swam towards them with incredible grace. She had seen dogs playing in these ponds before and they tended to splash and ripple their way through the water as they fetched a stick or ball. The feinhound was nothing like that, in fact, it barely made the lilypads moved as its head glided towards them. It moved so smoothly that Lilian kept having to readjust her eyes to make sure she was still looking at it. By the time it reached their side of the water, Mr Attorcop had stepped in front of Lilian and dragged the unstoppered bottle through the air in front of him. Lilian had seen him do this before, when Kissandra had attacked them in his room, and just like that day Mr Attorcop placed his hand on one of the floating blobs of essence and whilst drawing it back, crafted the liquid into a silver sword. He stood in a guard position, ready to fight or run. Lilian looked around and noticed that their only means of escape would be to run to their left because behind them was the small waterfall with the Padda stone on top of it and to the right was more water. But Lilian didn’t want to run. She had run once already and now she wanted to stay and watch, to see how the feinhound moved and what it did. She knew that if it attacked, Mr Attorcop would have a plan to defend them. She edged slowly to her right and craned her neck just in time to see the feinhound emerge from the water. It’s fur glistened in the light and it stood still, watching them both.
“Lilian,” Mr Attorcop whispered to her, “Keep very still, we don’t want to make sudden movements or do anything that might surprise it.” Lilian took a deep breath in the hope of slowing her rapidly beating heart. At this distance, she could see its rib cage expand and fall as it breathed. It didn’t seem scared. It didn’t even seem angry or violent. Just… curious. Its black, dog nose rose in the air as it smelled the two strangers in front of it. It dipped its head up and down whilst smelling the air all around them. It even took a couple of steps to its left so as to get a better view of Lilian. With its large jowls and drooping skin under its eyes, Lilian thought it looked almost, goofy. Its pointed ears and size had made it seem so intimidating in the woods, but this close it was a lot more cute. Without warning the feinhound began to shake the water from its body. Its cheeks slapped against its face as it did and Lilian caught a sign of its large teeth, that reminded her to not let her guard down just yet.
What proceeded was a sort of awkward dance. The feinhound, calm as ever, would take a step towards them and Mr Attorcop would take a step back. He was wary though as to not step too far back towards the padda stone as this would leave them without a means of escape and it would distance him from the remaining lunar essence, still floating patiently in front of them. This meant that by the third of fourth tentative step forward Lilian and Mr Attorcop were almost in reach of the feinhounds large head. Lilian thought that if it was to now decide to go on its hind legs, it could probably put its front paws on Mr Attorcop’s shoulders. The atmosphere was tense, but Lilian still felt lucky. Like when you watch a thunderstorm and you see an arc of lightning not too far away. She could see the feinhound’s eyes now. They were vertically slit, like a cat’s and they were a beautiful shade of green. Its fur was currently a deep blue with flecks of black around its back legs. Lilian held her breath and prayed that it didn’t disappear. She had no idea how long they had spent watching it get closer but Mr Attorcop seemed to be relaxing.
“It doesn’t seem like it wants to attack us.” He whispered. Lilian noticed that it was glancing occasionally at his sword. Everytime it tried to step closer its eyes would dart to the blade and it would hesitate and try to find another way. Lilian had an idea,
“Put the sword away.” She said, “I don’t think it likes it.” Mr Attorcop was hesitant. By the look on his face Lilian could tell that he was torn. He probably sensed its hesitation around the sword too, but putting it away would leave them defenceless. Slowly though, Mr Attorcop brought out the vial and dipped the tip of the blade back into its opening, Lilian watched as it melted quickly back into essence. Now they were only left with the few drops hanging between them and the feinhound, Lilian could see their light reflected in its eyes. That seemed to have done the trick, because no sooner had the last of the sword’s handle been poured back into the vial, the feinhound stepped closer and began to sniff Mr Attorcop’s leg. Lilian heard low chimes coming from its throat. She feared that putting the sword away might have been a mistake as it was now clearly growling. Or at least, it was doing its version of growling. But quickly, it stopped and moved round to Lilian.
“Just let it smell you.” Mr Attorcop breathed out in relief. He was visibly relaxing now but the danger had not disappeared completely. It approached Lilian tentatively and dipped its head to sniff at her shoes and the hem of her skirt. Lilian couldn’t believe it. She felt as though she was dreaming, as though any minute her mum would touch her shoulder and she’d be back in her room. The feinhound looked up at her. She heard nothing coming from its throat but its tail began to wag ever so slightly. She smiled. She had no idea what to do or say but she smiled and looked up at Mr Attorcop. He had turned around to observe the animal and was now stood wide eyed, transfixed and Lilian even thought she saw his mouth slightly open.
“What do I do?” She asked.
“I… I don’t know.” Mr Attorcop was no help at all, thought Lilian as she turned back to the feinhound. Its fur was now dark green and the black flecks turned to white. She heard Mr Attorcop breathe in quickly. Lilian was also mesmerised. She desperately wanted to touch its fur and so, she began to raise her hand slowly towards its head. Her mother had once told her that it’s a good idea to let unfamiliar dogs smell you before touching them so she tried to move her hand towards its black, wet nose. The feinhound did lean in to smell it but backed away before she could reach out and touch it. It was then that Lilian noticed its body. She could see its ribs protruding out in bold lines. She noticed muscle and sinew down its legs too. She obviously had no idea what a healthy feinhound should look like but if this had been a large dog it would have been severely underweight. The feinhound promptly sat on its haunches and stared at both Lilian and Mr Attorcop expectantly.
“It looks hungry…” said Lilian as she watched it lick its cheeks with a slobbery, thin dark tongue. She turned to Mr Attorcop who was putting the rest of the essence back inside the tiny bottle. Once he’d finished he started to back away from her.
“I think we should head back to town Lilian. Once it sees lights and people it might head back into the woods.” Lilian wasn’t sure she wanted it to head back. With every second she gazed at its eyes they became less threatening, but she had to admit that this was probably the right thing to do.
They started walking back to town, navigating their way round the pools and puddles. Lilian turned to look at the Padda Stone one last time and noticed that the Feinhound was following them at a safe distance. This made her smile. But her grin quickly disappeared when she thought about the consequences of bringing this creature into Benlunar. People might panic, they might scream and run and frighten the poor thing. Worse still, they might remember all the sheep that have been going missing and decide to kill it. Lilian was not going to let that happen. Mr Attorcop was silent for most of the way back to Benlunar’s centre. Once the houses were so close that they could make out people moving about in the windows, he turned to look at the creature. It had followed them all the way from the padda stone ponds and it didn’t look like it was going to stop. Mr Attorcop wasn’t used to not knowing what to do. He didn’t like the feeling at all. Walking straight into town with this thing trailing behind them was out of the question. It didn’t seem aggressive but there were too many unpredictable variables when dealing with larger crowds and populated areas. Suddenly he stopped as an idea occured to him.
“Lilian, why don’t you walk over there a second, and I’ll go in the opposite direction. I want to see who its following.” Lilian nodded and began to walk to her right in the direction Mr Attorcop had pointed. She came off the path after a few steps and noticed her boots getting wet as she stepped into the grass. She turned to see Mr Attorcop walking in the opposite direction and the feinhound standing very still. It seemed reluctant to approach the town, but desperate enough to try something dangerous. Lilian watched its eyes dart between her and Mr Attorcop. It dipped its head down and its coat changed colour again. This time it became brown with a large patch of white on its chest. Lilian even noticed that its fur grew in length a little so that it now looked like a dog’s shaggy winter coat as opposed to the wiry hairs it had before. Even its ears became fluffier with little tufts of brown hair sprouting from the tips. After just a few short seconds it looked like, well from a distance anyway, a big shaggy dog. Lilian relaxed a little. If it followed them through town now, most people might just think it a stray looking for an easy meal. Once the change had completed, it moved closer to Lilian, clearly deciding she would be the one to feed it before Mr Attorcop. Lilian felt a pang of pride but reminded herself that it was probably just hungry and hedging its bets. Mr Attorcop had noted the change and the decision and in that short time had come up with a plan that should work.
“We have to assume,” He said in a loud whisper, “That it’s going to keep following you. The Thoreson house is closer and I have food there. Hopefully once its been fed it will leave us alone.” Lilian knew that risking the journey across town to her house was probably unwise so she nodded her head, turned around and started walking down the little path to her right, towards the Thoreson house. Mr Attorcop followed her, casting the occasional eye back to their mysterious pursuer. He wondered if this was the right thing to do. He had considered shouting at it, scolding and even hitting it in an attempt to make it leave them alone. But every time he considered that course of action, he remembered the large, sharp teeth hiding beneath its cheeks. For now, best to humour it and hope that it disappears. As the distance between them grew he did note that at a glance it did look just like any other large dog, he crossed his fingers that no one would decide to run up to it and inspect it closely. Mr Attorcop wasn’t quite past the shock of it all yet. He was sure that no one had ever seen or at the very least, documented such an extraordinary creature, yet here it was plodding along behind them like a common stray, sniffing at the ground whenever it past something it thought looked interesting. The hour was late so they didn’t run into many townsfolk on their journey. They narrowly managed to avoid a small group of locals coming out of a pink door and by the time they reached the Thorseson house Mr Attorcop was already trying to figure out what gave the animal its unique abilities.
Getting the creature to the house was not a problem, however, getting it through the front door was an ordeal. Simply walking in and expecting it to follow suit did not work. Whenever, Lilian and Mr Attorcop stepped past the threshold, the animal would sit down and gaze about, patiently awaiting their return.
“This won’t do.” Said Mr Attorcop, “The longer it stays out here the more chance there is of somebody seeing it.” He tried to get close to it in the hope of grabbing the fur on its back and pulling it in, but each time he got close, the creature would move a few steps away, dodging his hand at every attempt. Lilian left them to their silly game and headed for the kitchens. A couple of doors through the dining room took her into an ornate kitchen, probably the size of her entire house’s ground floor. It was eerily silent as she walked past copper ladles, large knives and worn down chopping boards on beautiful oak counters. The door to the larder was at the back, far enough away from the fireplace so that the heat didn’t warm it up. The room was small and stuck out from the side of the house so that it puposefully didn’t benefit from any heat generated from the main fires and chimneys. It was cold inside and Lilian instantly found her prize. The carcass of a large chicken sat on the side amongst various uncooked vegetables. It must have been roast that day because there was still a fair amount of meat on the bones. She tore off as much as she could and headed back out to the front door.
When she pushed the dining room door open however she almost jumped out of her skin. Mr Stepson stood there, candle in hand dressed in a blue nightgown complete with ridiculous sleeping hat. Lilian stifled a scream and then a laugh.
“Miss?” He spoke softly, he’d clearly been getting ready for bed when the noise had disturbed him, “May I ask what you are doing rummaging in the kitchen at this hour?” Lilian’s only thought was that she may have been sent on an errand so she just blurted out the first thing that came to her.
“Mr Attorcop wants…” She paused, looked down and said, “chicken.” Mr Stepson looked confused but he didn’t stop her as she pushed past him. Lilian chastised herself. She was normally excellent at coming up with excuses. It was the silly hat that threw her off she thought. Before she reached the entrance hall she threw a glance back to check that Mr Stepson wasn’t following her and when she was satisfied that he had gone back to bed she opened the door to see Mr Attorcop at his wits end.
“It won’t move!” He managed to keep control of his volume but if he had had any hair on his head he would probably have been pulling it out.
“Here look, let’s try this.” Lilian stepped out of the front door and the feinhound instantly snapped its head towards her. She didn’t go all the way over to it, but instead let it approach her. She held a piece of chicken in her outstretched hand and, although it took a moment, the feinhound eventually approached it to give it a good sniff before snapping it out of fingers. The motion was lightning quick, Lilian barely saw the flash of white teeth before the morcel of chicken was gone and the feinhound was licking its lips. Lilian stepped back and repeated the process all the way up to the front door. The feinhound became hesitant again once its feet touched the floor boards but its eyes only momentarily broke contact with the chicken to check its footing before it stepped through the door frame and into the candle lit hallway. Lilian could feel the vibrations in the floor boards as each of its large feet thudded down in step. The chicken ploy was working but Lilian was quickly running out of bait.
“In here,” She heard Mr Attorcop whisper behind her as he opened a small side door to what looked to be a boot room of some sort. Lilian guided the feinhound in amongst the musty smelling leather boots and old hunting jackets. She spotted a crossbow hung up in the corner and wondered when the last time the Thoreson family had gathered for a hunt. Probably not for many years. The room was perfect. She threw the last of the chicken bits on the floor and the feinhound shot towards them. As soon as it had finished the last piece it turned back to Lilian expectantly. Its eyes widened in sadness and Lilian was reminded once again of Ortan’s big dog, she had seen that expression before on Silky’s face whenever anyone at the Fox & Octopus fed her a scrap off their plate. Those big eyes could melt even the coldest of hearts.
“What now?” She turned to Mr Attorcop who was still holding the door open.
“Well, that was the starter, I suppose its time for the main course.” Lilian couldn’t be sure, but she thought she detected a hint of enjoyment in his voice. She smiled widely and dashed back to the kitchen. A few minutes later she came back with her hands filled with various meats and vegetables. She didn’t want to presume that it only eat chicken so she put them all down on the floor in front of the feinhound. Its eyes widened as it saw Lilian approach and its tail wagged at full speed. Even its colour and coat changed from the shaggy brown to a slick and brilliant yellow. It patiently waited for Lilian to step back before devouring the veritable buffet in front of it. Lilian and Mr Attorcop looked on, amused.
“It’s so big.” Said Mr Attorcop. Lilian felt that someone eventually had to say it out loud.
“It’s the feinhound.” She whispered. Mr Attorcop frowned in confusion.
“Yes I… I suppose it is.” The two of them paused to think about exactly what that meant.
“We’re going to have to bring it back to the woods aren’t we?” Asked Lilian.
“Yes I… I suppose we are.” They watched in silence as the Feinhound gobbled up an entire sausage, barely chewing it before moving on to a stick of broccoli.
“But… we are very lucky to be able to have this opportunity to… study such a creature, up close.” Lilian slowly turned her head up to look at Mr Attorcop.
“Yes.” She replied. “Very lucky. It would almost be a shame or a wasted opportunity if we were to let it go now.”
“Indeed.” Mr Attorcop answered quickly, “A great shame. Such a shame in fact that no one would blame us if we decided to postpone the release. For scientific purposes, you understand.”
“Of course.” Replied Lilian. She sensed a smile spread across her face. She knew that it was unfair to keep this animal locked up, but the opportunity to spend even a minute more beside it was not one she wanted to give up. She watched the feinhound wolf down a couple of cherry tomatoes, apparently it would eat pretty much anything, before sniffing the floor around it for any more scraps it might have missed. Just then, it looked up quickly and stared at the empty corridor behind them its nose twitching quickly. Half a second later Lilian heard the creak of a floorboard coming from the main staircase. Mr Attorcop must have heard it too because he instinctively shut the door to the boot room at turned to see who was walking down the stairs. The slow moving figure of an old woman was making its way down the grand staircase. She was holding a gas lamp in her right hand and didn’t seem to have noticed them. Lilian watched as she focused all of her attention from one step to the next. Although she had never met this woman before, she knew who it was. This must be Mrs Thoreson. Lilian knew that she still lived in the house but she rarely left it due to her deteriorating health. Or perhaps she just didn’t like people very much. Her hair was dark grey and she had green eyes, clearly visible even through the low light. She was wearing a blue dressing gown that looked thick and warm, probably spun from high quality wool. Lilian noticed tiny stars dotted around it When she reached the last step, she looked up and squinted towards them.
“Oh. Good evening Cromwell.” Mr Attorcop smiled.
“Good evening. I hope we didn’t wake you.” The old woman shuffled towards the dining room door shaking her head.
“No no. I can’t sleep. Can’t ever sleep these days.” She grumbled some inaudible words before stopping to look back at Lilian. “Oh.” She paused. Lilian gulped as she expected the feinhound plot to be rumbled any second. Instead, Mrs Thoreson squinted through the low light to study her. “I suppose you must be the young Nocta?” She paused expectantly, obviously waiting for Lilian to reply, but Lilian had no idea what to say. What even was a Nocta? Had she heard her correctly?
“Uh… Yes.” She replied, “I’m Lilian.” This seemed to please the old woman, her face wrinkled with a smile.
“Yes, Yes. Remember to keep practising, that’s the really hard bit. But you get used to it after a while.” She turned away as she spoke. “I suppose he’s got you running up mountains and all sorts. It is fun. I had fun with it. Anyway, I’m going to get some tea. Good night Cromwell.” She waved her hand absentmindedly as she went.
“Good night, Aunt Ina. I hope you manage to get some sleep.” Mr Attorcop replied. Lilian was taken aback. Was Ina Thoreson really Mr Attorcop’s Aunt? Or was that just a term of endearment… She was about to ask him when he whipped round to open the boot room door and check on the Feinhound. Lilian followed suit and expected it to be sitting quietly in the middle of the room, just the way they had left it. But when her gaze fell on the bare stone slabs she craned her head inside hoping to spot it hiding in a corner. She checked to her left where the coats and arrows were hung, and when she didn’t see anything she walked into the room and checked behind the door. Still nothing. Just an empty corner with some old logs piled on top of each other. She turned around to see Mr Attorcop looking just as confused. He was staring at the small window at the back of the room. Lilian looked at it too, she had noticed it when they first checked the room, it was latched shut and very small. Clearly only intended to let a bit of light into the room during the day and air out any musty smells coming from the boots. She thought that given a lot of effort, she might just about be able to squeeze through it, but it was near the ceiling and clearly hadn’t been opened or tampered with.
“There’s no way.” Lilian was shaking her head in disbelief. She turned around and then around again, each time expecting to see the feinhound walk out from behind a coat or box but there was nothing there. Had it snuck past them? She thought.
“I told you it could disappear!” She said in what could no longer be considered a whisper.
She looked at Mr Attorcop about to ask if he’d noticed anything as he was shutting the door.
He was staring at a point on the ground where the feinhound had been only moments ago. She watched as his squinting eyes widened slowly in disbelief. Lilian looked at the empty spot and then back to Mr Attorcop.
“What is it?” She asked. Mr Attorcop raised his hand and pointed silently towards the empty space on the floor.
“I don’t think it disappeared.” He said softly. Lilian looked back at the empty space. She supposed the pressure of sneaking around had finally got to Mr Attorcop and he’d lost his mind. A shame, she thought. She was about to suggest he go upstairs and get some rest when something caught her attention. The pattern of cracks on the stone slabs seemed strange. It was as if they didn’t quite fit together, like when looking at spoon bend in a glass of water. Now that she’d noticed it, other things seemed to stand out as strange as well. The stone looked to be of a different texture that the rest of the floor around it. Almost, fuzzier, less defined. She walked slowly around the spot, keeping her eyes fixed on the strange space. And that’s when she saw it. The feinhound hadn’t disappeared. It was still there. Only it was lying perfectly still, as still as the logs in the corner and its fur had taken on the colour and texture of the floor around it. This is how it must have disappeared in the forest, she thought, this is how it avoids detection. It blends in perfectly with its surroundings. If she hadn’t have studied the space, if she had just continued to look around the room and check behind doors and boxes, she would have stayed completely oblivious. Suddenly, as if it knew it had been detected, or if it sensed the disappearance of danger it stood up and opened its eyes. As it did so, Its coat changed colours again, this time to a deep black and purple. Its eyes glinted like stars against the darkness and its tail began to wag once more. Lilian turned back to look at Mr Attorcop. She didn’t know what to say. Mr Attorcop just rolled his eyes.
“All this sneaking around all the way from the Padda Stone and it decides to show us that now?” Lilian smiled and began to laugh. It really had been an extraordinary evening. As she laughed she realised that she hadn’t let herself smile like that in days. Not since their trip up to Benlunar peak. It felt good. But she also felt a strange pang of guilt. She thought about how much Kilde would have enjoyed the adventure and although she smiled, her smile was somehow shackled. Less free than it had been only a few short weeks ago.
The rest of the evening consisted of figuring out what to do with the feinhound. Keeping it under observation for longer didn’t look as it was going to be as tough a job as they’d thought. For every time Lilian left its sight, the feinhound would follow her. They experimented with locking the boot room door but after a few minutes they would hear loud scratches on the wood and the strange chiming growl. They decided to risk taking it through
Benlunar and back to Lilian’s parent’s house. Lilian knew that they would be just as fascinated as she was and with the hour well past midnight, the town would be relatively safe to traverse. This was a lucky thing too because the feinhound decided to not even bother with its shaggy brown, dog-like appearance but instead remained black and purple. Every time Lilian looked behind her she would see it, hugging the walls and corners and furtively following her home. When she reached her kitchen door she noticed that her parents were still awake, chatting over sweet smelling tea cups in the kitchen. They smiled as she walked in, her mother’s eyes were red, as if she’d been crying. Lilian knew that it was because she was leaving the next day. But she was too excited to cry, too nervous to console her parents. She let Mr Attorcop, who had come back with her, explain everything before they let the feinhound through the kitchen door and into their house. Polly and Edward Lausanne stood up in shock as the beast tentatively walked in, smelling the cupboards and sideboards as it did.
“It’s astounding.” Remarked her father, he stepped closer but the feinhound backed away.
“I don’t think it likes being touched.” Said Lilian. She looked to see how her Mum was taking this all. Polly Lausanne’s eyes were filled with tears and her mouth curved in a wide smile.
“My prayers.” She said, choking back the tears. Lilian looked at her Dad, who shrugged.
“Mum?” Asked Lilian, stepping closer. Polly grabbed her daughter and hugged her tightly. Lilian felt tear drops in her hair.
“Yesterday I went to the Stave and I asked the gods to protect you on your journey. I asked them to watch over you when you left Benlunar and to make sure you returned soon and safe. And here…” She gestured to the great beast in her tiny kitchen, which was currently sniffing the teapot, “here is the answer the gods of have given. I know it. I’m sure of it.” Lilian smiled. She wasn’t exactly sure if that’s how prayers worked, but if the feinhound made her leaving Benlunar easier for her Mother, she was happy.
Mr Attorcop left soon after, giving Lilian instructions as to how they would leave the town should the feinhound decide to follow her the next morning. That night, the creature followed Lilian into her room as she got ready for bed. Her parents had been unsure but Lilian argued that had it wanted to attack her, it had had many opportunities to do so already. Besides, attempting to put the bedroom door between her and the animal resulted in scratched paint and strange sounds. And so Lilian got into bed and watched as the feinhound, the big and beautiful beast, circled her sheepskin rug and lay down on it. As sleep took her over, a name drifted into her mind as if from a dream. A pleasant dream with a whisper carried on a warm summer wind: Fritha.
Benlunar - Episode 10
The hunters and the hunted.
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
In the market square in front of the Stave Church in the middle of Benlunar there are many different stalls, each selling something unique, made with love and care by the stall’s owner’s. All are different but one thing many stalls have in common, is a small set of metal scales used to weigh products against a standard set of weights made by Benlunar’s own blacksmiths and measured to the standards set in the city of Freedos. The scales represent an unspoken agreement, they are so accurate that some say larger cities use scales as a symbol of justice outside their courts. The fairness and trust that these simple instruments represent can be seen as a universal language spoken all over the world. A few days ago, Lilian Lausanne had found herself transfixed by a set of these scales whilst her mother was buying oats at the market. The brass bowls reflected the summer sun and gave a satisfying clink as they hit the peuter stand signifying that balance had been found. She had found the image entering her head several times in the days to follow and each time it did, she found herself getting angry. Fairness. She would think. How could anyone believe in such a concept? Was it fair when rich children were born into rich families, and poor children starved to death? Was it fair to be accused of a crime one didn’t commit and be forced to serve the sentence? And was the world fair when disease killed a child? At these times she would curse the gods. All the high and mighty creatures on the Stave Church walls, looking down at mortals and tossing them aside like taken chess pieces. At no point did she feel this burning anger more strongly than in this moment. The moment when she was face to face with a mythical creature that her friend had so desperately wanted to see again. She felt an existential rage boil up from her belly, pushing away all the sadness that had been there only moments ago. And yet she could not look away. For it was looking back at her.
Against the backdrop of the forest floor, leaves the colour of burnt sugar crunching under its padded feet, stood an animal Lilian had never seen before. Two cat like eyes cut through the gloom and stared at her, unblinking. It had a snout, like a dog but its ears were pointy. From this distance Lilian could see its wet nostrils flaring as it drank in the evening’s scent. Its fluffy tail flicked back and forth in wariness from the back of its soft coat. It’s fur was a light brown but as soon as Lilian registered this, it flickered and changed. One moment it was brown, then it shimmered into a mossy green and then a flash of orange and for the quickest instant it was as blue as the sky had been that morning. And it was big, easily as big as Ortan’s dog, Silky, although it had a more regal way of holding itself, less slobbery and floppy. Lilian’s anger faded, replaced by wonder. She knew she ought to be scared, but she still felt too much sadness and anger. She found her breath again and began to slowly inhale as she shifted her weight to take a tentative step back. She heard a strange noise coming from the creature, which by now she knew had to be the Feinhound that they had been looking for all this time. It sounded like purring, but more metallic and melodious. It wasn’t an aggressive sound she thought, but more like the sound animals make when they want to keep you at bay. If it had been a dog, thought Lilian, it would have been a low growl. Lilian took the hint and started to step back even further. She didn’t want to, she wanted to run up to it, to touch it, to look at its fur, but life in the country growing up around the wild had taught her better than that. After 4 steps the Feinhound moved, it flattened its ears and stopped growling and crouched down close to the forest floor. At which point it promptly disappeared. Lilian stopped breathing once again. She was staring, unblinking at the spot where the Feinhound had been but she could no longer see it. She glanced left at a group of trees then right at a small thicket, hoping to see movement. But she saw nothing. Had she imagined it? She blinked several times, hoping to will it back into existence. But the light was quickly fading from the forest and the few thin streaks through the canopy from the setting sun were quickly disappearing. Lilian felt like she was trying to remember a dream upon waking. Every second that past sent the feinhound deeper into obscurity. She turned to leave, to head back to Benlunar the way she came. She hadn’t gone 20 steps however when she paused again. With every step she took, she could have sworn she could hear another step, a second or even third crunch in the leaves a few feet behind her. Lilian spun around, expecting to see the Feinhound again, but there was nothing there. She turned back and started to walk again, keeping an ear out for what she’d thought she’d heard. This time she was sure of it. With every step she took through the leaves Lilian heard a corresponding crunch coming from directly behind her. Suddenly, Lilian remembered something. She fumbled around her pockets until she found the heavy coin, her fingers touched the cold gold of the sovereign that had been given to her that night in the alley. She lifted it up to her eyeline and held it out a little to the left. The shine of the coin gave a slight reflection, and Lilian was trying to spot anything strange happening behind her as she went. She had to walk quite a way but once she’d shifted the coin enough she found what she was looking for. Sure enough, with every step she took, the leaves a few feet behind her moved. If she stopped, they stopped. She was being followed she thought. And then, her heart began to race as her common sense came crashing through her amazement. Moments earlier she had been wandering through the forest, not paying attention to anything but her own thoughts, and when she had looked up she had taken a strange and wild animal by surprise. Was it likely now then that it was following her? Or was it… hunting her?
Lilian instinctively quickened her pace. Her running made the already foggy mirror image become useless so she shoved the coin back into her pocket and broke into a run. The wind in her ears and the quick crunch of leaves as well as the sound of branches being flicked back made it impossible to tell if the footsteps were still behind her. All Lilian knew as she ran that was with each step she took, she had not been caught. And so she continued. She ran back through the forest, towards the river which she could now her in the distance. Once she reached it she splashed through it, slipping at one point and getting drenched. Once she had climbed back up the hill to her house however, she did not stop, she didn’t even give her kitchen window a second glance as she rushed past it, all the way up the path and on to Benlunar’s cobbled streets. By now her legs were heavy with exhaustion and she was taking quick, gulping breaths. She narrowly avoided bumping into a cart and donkey as she crossed the town square, the animal’s heehaw sounds echoed in the distance already as she ran up the top street, into the Stepson house, it’s heavy wooden door already open to the breeze. By the time she climbed the last few steps up to Mr Attorcop’s attic room, cursing his ridiculous choice of lodging under her breath, she was almost ready to collapse. She did in fact fall briefly to the floor, trying desperately to catch her breath as she sat against the wall, peering through her sweat stung eyes to see if Mr Attorcop was even in the room. He was. He was staring bewildered at the damp and exhausted girl that had burst through his floor unapologetically. In his hand he was holding a paper weight shaped like a spider and Lilian saw that she had interrupted him about to place it in trunk by his desk. This drew her attention to the rest of the room and she saw that it was filled with half empty boxes and bags. She turned her head to see various piles of clothes lying on the bed, some folded in neat piles. Mr Attorcop was wearing a grey tunic and black, loose fitting trousers and seemed to be in the middle of packing up his belongings.
“My dear girl, please don’t sit there, your dripping on my hat.” Lilian looked down to see that she had almost crushed a luxurious black suede hat and that there was indeed water dripping from her smock onto one of the brass buttons around the hat’s edge. She mumbled an apology and shifted herself away from it.
“What in Enoch’s name has happened to you?” Asked Mr Attorcop as he went back to packing his belongings. Lilian wanted to answer, but between breaths she could only say a few words.
“What… what are you doing?” Mr Attorcop didn’t look back at her, instead he spoke off handedly while examining a book, wondering which box to put it in.
“I’m packing of course. I did tell you I’d be leaving soon.” Lilian was taken aback. Everything these last few days had been so clouded over by what had happened to Kilde, she had forgotten that Mr Attorcop was leaving Benlunar. She realised that she hadn’t actually seen him since that night at Kilde’s house. She pushed the memory out of her mind, feeling a familiar lump appear in her throat at the very thought of it. Mr Attorcop looked up from packing.
“Lilian, I know these last few days have been difficult, but if you’re going to go mad I really wish you would tell me.” Lilian shook her head and snapped her attention back to the matter at hand. Her pulse was slowing now and her head was clearing.
“I saw it.”
“Saw what?” said Attorcop, throwing a few pages into a waste basket.
“I saw the feinhound. The thing that me and Ki… The animal I told you about, the one who’s fur we found. I saw it in the woods.”
Mr Attorcop slowly turned to look at her. He paused for a second and then walked over to where she was and sat down on the floor in front of her. Lilian almost giggled at how out of place he looked, sat cross legged like a child playing with wooden soldiers. He wore a serious expression as he spoke.
“Tell me what happened exactly.” Lilian had finally managed to slow her breathing and began to tell him everything that had just happened, she even brought out her gold sovereign to show him how she had used its shiny surface to look behind her. Mr Attorcop listened very patiently barely changing his expression as she spoke. When she finally reached the part about arriving at the Stepson house he took a deep breath and gazed at the clutter of his attic room, he seemed to be weighing what to say in his mind, ordering the words carefully like packing precious things into a trunk.
“Lilian,” He said finally, “do you know the difference between an objective and a subjective truth?” Lillian hadn’t expected this as a response to her story, she raised her eyebrows, curious as to what this had to do with mythical, disappearing dogs.
“No…” She had heard the words before but couldn’t confidently say she knew their meanings. Mr Attorcop reached behind him and grabbed a glass vial, one of the ones he’d use in his many experiments, it was a similar size to the vials of essence Lillian had seen, but not as ornate.
“You see this,” He said, holding it in front of himself, “Neither you or I or anyone observing us would argue that this vial is not here. I can see it, I can touch it I can smell what might have been inside it.” He tossed the small object between his hands, as if really making sure it was indeed real. “This vial being here with us now, that is an objective truth, meaning that it remains true for anyone and everyone, no matter who you are. With me so far?” Lillian nodded, “Good. Now, how this vile makes you feel, what it might remind you of, what it signifies to you, these things are all just as real as the vial itself, but they will be different for you and me. I have different memories or thoughts associated with this object, compared to you. That is called, a subjective truth, it IS true, but only for me, just as your subjective truths are true only for you.” Lillian still didn’t understand what this had to do with anything. Mr Attorcop threw the small bottle carelessly into a pile of cloth rags.
“This experience you’ve just had,” he continued, “There is no doubt in my mind that you did indeed witness something, that you had some sort of supernatural encounter. But I believe that it would be classed as a subjective truth, rather than an objective truth.” Lillian began to understand and she began to feel anger rise up inside her, of all the people she wanted to tell she told Mr Attorcop first because she was sure he would believe her.
“You’re saying it wasn’t real? But I saw it! Just like I’m seeing you.”
“I’m not saying that,” He reassured, “I do believe you saw something, all I’m saying is that, had I been there too, I would not have seen anything. Because when I think about all the things that constitute an animal, I remember that the ability to disappear is not one of them. It’s like when people see ghosts or have out-of-body experiences, they are true but they are not objective truths.” Lillian paused for a second. She shook her head in annoyance,
“So magical moon water and and and secret assassins and demons! They’re all real but the animal I saw today was not?” Mr Attorcop’s eyes grew concerned,
“Lillian, considering what you’ve been through, it’s not surprising that your mind would…” Lillian cut him off,
“No. Don’t say that, don’t use what happened to Kilde to make me sound like I’m going mad. I know what I saw and... and if you don’t believe me then, well, I’ll catch it, I’ll stay in Benlunar and I’ll catch it and prove it to you.” Mr Attorcop stood up.
“I’m sorry Lillian, I know this is frustrating. But as you can see…”He gestured the cluttered room, “I’m rather busy. If you would like, this evening, you and I can meet and discuss everything you been through these last few days and we can… we can say goodbye.” This stopped Lillian’s train of thought in its tracks.
“Goodbye?” She said, “What do you mean?”
“Well, I plan to leave Benlunar tomorrow or the day after at the latest. If you would like to come with me then that offer still stands. But I understand if you would rather stay here with your family. Either way, tonight you say goodbye. Either to me, or to Benlunar.”
Lillian left the Stepson house with a million more questions than when she had arrived. She wanted to continue her lessons with Mr Attorcop, but she had a lot of reasons to want to stay in Benlunar. She could help Stine, she could help her parents she could honour Kilde by trying to capture the Feinhound and prove its existence to the world. She could try and find out more about why Brother Thomas had that silver hand in his cupboard. She stopped suddenly in the market square. The setting sun was slowly turning the mountain behind her a beautiful peach colour and the last few stall holders were packing up their wares. The silver hand. What with everything that had been happening these last few weeks she had completely forgotten about it. She hadn’t even asked Mr Attorcop. She considered turning back but didn’t fancy another lecture about how she was going mad. Instead, her eyes fell on the Stave Church. It’s dark wood catching the pink light of the sky. How could something so beautiful hide a liar in its depths. Without evening thinking Lilian felt her feet move towards the Church doors. What did she have to lose? She thought. Her best friend was dead, she might be leaving the town altogether, sadness and anger drove her forward to confront Brother Thomas directly. She flung the bulky doors open as if she was about to confront the Gods themselves. And why shouldn’t she? She thought. They had taken her best friend and were refusing to provide her with answers. Their quiet images gazed down at her from the walls and tapestries as she marched into the main hall. She scowled at Kina, Goddess of the seasons in her form of a hare. The carving’s blank black eyes stared back at her, indifferent. She stormed past a statue of Liebling, the Goddess of goodness and fairness. Lilian stopped to look at the marble woman, posing with a doe in some flowers. Lillian used to love that statue, but now she wanted to push it off its plinth and watch it shatter. That would show her. Goddess of fairness, she thought, more like Goddess of…
“Lillian?” She snapped out of her spiteful trance to see Brother Thomas walking out of the back room carrying a book. Lillian didn’t know what to say, she thought that if she opened her mouth she would start shouting or crying, so she just stood in front of Liebling, fists clenched and eyes glaring.
“Lillian is everything alright?” Brother Thomas’ soft voice and compassionate manner didn’t fool her anymore. She let him speak as he approached her, his voice echoing off the walls and tall ceiling.
“I did wonder if I might see you. Thank you again for helping with the service the other day. I know that must have been difficult. How are you holding up?” Lillian said nothing, she continued to glare at him as she felt tears forcing their way into her eyes. Brother Thomas changed the subject.
“Ah. Liebling. Yes I suppose things don’t seem very fair or good these days do they? But you know, she can still be with us even when things seem terrible. Do you know why she is often seen with a doe?” Lillian finally snapped and cut him off.
“What was that silver hand?”
“Excuse me?” Brother Thomas looked genuinely confused.
“The silver hand brooch in the box. What is it? Where did you get it and what does it mean?” She had thrown off all caution, if she was going to leave Benlunar she would leave with answers or not at all. She studied Brother Thomas, his expression was fixed and quizzical. His words came out measured and careful.
“That was a gift. Many years ago I was given it as thanks for…” Lillian cut him off with a shout.
“Enough!” Her cry echoed around the hall for a long time. Brother Thomas’ face remained calm but Lillian saw his lips purse in anger. The two stared at each other. Lillian was not going to be intimidated, nor was she going to change the subject. Finally Brother Thomas sighed and walked over to a wooden bench where he sat down. Lilian did not join him. She studied him as he sat, his face looked suddenly tired as if he’d just set down a great weight. He looked back up at Lillian.
“I don’t know why you want to know about that brooch. It seems as though you’ve found out from someone or somewhere that it isn’t just a pretty piece of jewelry. Gods know how. Truth be told I should have thrown it away years ago.” He took a deep breath and sighed.
“It probably comes as no surprise to you that I wasn’t always a Church Brother. I grew up in Freedos and I come from a very poor family. Being poor in the city isn’t like being poor out here. There is no… community there. You can’t rely on friends or strangers to take care of you if you fall on hard times. Everyone is out for themselves, and those who fall behind get left behind. So when you’re born with nothing you take what you can get. Growing up I fell in with a group of people who were, let’s say, less than friendly. I worked for them and they gave me food and money in return. Good money too. Anyway, cutting a long story short I was once asked by someone outside the group to provide information on my boss. They offered me money and they wore a silver hand on their breast. For several weeks I reported to them in secret and gave them information on raids or robberies that we were planning. I figured that it didn’t matter where the money was coming from as long as it kept coming and if I was careful I could be a servant of two masters and earn double the salary. Well, that worked for a while. Luckily the group never found out but they had their suspicions. Eventually they were all arrested, even me, but I was released in secret. Anyway from then on I worked for The Guiding Hand. That’s what they called themselves.”
“Who are they?” Asked Lilian, she had approached Brother Thomas by now but still did not sit by him.
“They are a group of families, individuals, businesses all sorts. Basically rich people with nothing better to do than route out trouble and put a stop to it. They claim to stand against tyranny and guide society into prosperity through secrecy. They put a stop to tyranny if they see it and they make sure the guilty are punished.” Lillian was confused.
“They sound like good people.” She said, “Why did you leave?” Brother Thomas looked back at the statue of Liebling and the doe. He smiled.
“That’s one lesson the fables don’t teach us Lillian, but it’s one of the most important ones.”
“What?” She asked.
“Everyone thinks they are a good person. The guiding hand were no different. I’m sure that amongst its many members, there might even be some genuinely good people. But with every ounce of power, it becomes easier to justify a terrible deed.” Brother Thomas held his hands out in front of, palms up as if holding invisible weights. Lillian watched as his right hand came down, bringing his left up to meet it in the middle. Brother Thomas continued,
“Power gives you the luxury of creating your own morality. I left the hand because I didn’t agree with the means they used to justify their ends. Peace and justice are all very good, but if it comes at the cost of murder and blackmail then… well… that’s not the kind of peace I’d want to be a part of.” Brother Thomas stood up with a sigh and walked past Lillian towards the Church’s back rooms. Lillian was left alone with the Gods. She had answers now, but they had come with their own set of questions. She found herself looking towards a large tapestry depicting the Padda Stone against the Benlunar peak. None of this would have happened if she hadn’t decided to paint that silly toad, she thought. In the dim light of the hall the great stone toad looked as if it might be smiling at her. Lillian turned when she heard Brother Thomas come back. He was holding something in his hands, Lillian saw it glint as it caught the candle light. As he approached he spoke softly,
“I left Freedos and joined the Church because I was sick of having to justify bad things to myself each night as I tried to sleep. With these stories and this life to guide me, I know for sure that I can be a good person.” He held out his hands and placed the object into Lillian’s palm.
“What ever you choose to do with this, remember, the roads to good and evil are oft made of the same stone.” Lillian looked down and saw a shiny, silver brooch in the shape of a hand resting in her palm.
That evening, after Lillian had gone home to wash and change, she hid the brooch in her room among her belongings. She then sat down for dinner with her parents and told them that she would be leaving Benlunar the next day. She had made the decision on her way back from the Stave Church. In the back of her mind though she had always known that she would choose to leave. She loved Benlunar but the town was now heaped in painful reminders. She didn’t want every path or tree she saw to remind her of Kilde. In a strange way, his death made leaving Benlunar a little easier, as she didn’t feel as though she was leaving him behind and going off on adventures without him. That would have felt strange somehow. She chatted with her parents over a delicious cheese and ham pie her father had cooked for dinner and when they had finished her parents helped her pack a few things into an old bag.
Late in the evening Lillian kept her promise to meet Mr Attorcop. She kept her wits about her on the walk, just in case the Feinhound decided to conveniently show itself. The memories of the strange animal were already beginning to fade as they were mixed up with dark pasts and strange silver brooches. Her mind was on Kissandra the assassin as she stepped out of the tree line and into view of the Padda Stone where Mr Attorcop was already waiting for her. He smiled as she approached.
“It seems like years since I saw you that night, skulking around those bushes.” Lillian grinned, remembering how scared and confused she had been the night the Padda Stone had woken up. She’d grown up a lot since then and found that after everything she’d been through in the last few months, leaving Benlunar for two years, might not be so scary.
“Have you thought about what I said?” Mr Attorcop spoke softly as Lillian stood in front of him. She gazed past him, up at the Padda Stone, its serene smile still visible in the light of the stars. It was a warmer and calmer night than when she had seen the lunar essence spill from its mouth and light up the pool below.
“Yes.” She replied softly, “I want to come with you. But you knew that already didn’t you?” Mr Attorcop smiled again, Lillian thought she almost saw him laugh.
“Well I wouldn’t say I KNEW…” Lillian rolled her eyes.
“Why did you want to meet here?” She asked, looking around.
“Well I thought that if you were going to say goodbye to me this setting would provide a satisfactory sense of symmetry, and if you were saying goodbye to Benlunar then somehow this place feels more like the spirit of the town rather than any of the actual buildings.” Lillian remembered her encounter earlier that day in the Stave Church and nodded her head in agreement.
“Well, what time would you like to leave tomorrow?” she asked. Mr Attorcop raised his eyebrows,
“Aren’t you going to say goodbye?” He gestures behind him to the stone and the mountain. Lillian snorted, he didn’t expect her to actually say the words did he? But then she paused. Why shouldn’t she say them? This ancient statue was alive, sort of, and so it might be able to sort of appreciate it. She stepped past Mr Attorcop and gazed up at the great stone toad. She smiled and spoke softly, feeling a little self conscious as she did.
“Goodbye Padda Stone, Gorakja and goodbye Benlunar. Thank you for… the food. The fun. The family, and the friends.” She smiled and turned back to Mr Attorcop.
“How was that for satisfactory symmetry?” She looked at Mr Attorcop but he was standing still, gazing out over the pools in front of them.
“Hey come on,” She said walking over to him, “I thought that was pretty clever.” She came to a stop when she saw Mr Attorcop’s expression. His face was very still, his eyes were wide and fixed intensely ahead of him.
“Mr Attorcop?” Lillian asked, starting to worry a little, “Are you alright?” Finally after a few long and painful seconds, he spoke.
“What… in all the names of all the Gods is that?”
Lillian followed his gaze and peered into the darkness. She couldn’t be sure of what she was looking for, but after a few scans of the trees and waters ahead she saw them. A pair of large eyes were staring back at them through the gloom. Eyes, like that of a cat.
Benlunar - Episode 9
Ascension.
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
The day in question began in a similar fashion to the days that had preceded it. Every morning for the past few weeks, Lilian awoke at dawn and ran up the mountain to train with Mr Attorcop on the stone shelf. When the time came for the visitors from Freedos to leave, Lilian had thought that she would go with them, back to the city where Mr Attorcop lived. But this did not happen. Mr Attorcop claimed that he still had work to do in Benlunar and so Lilian helped him when she could in the afternoon’s after their training. The work mostly consisted of noting down names and observations that Mr Attorcop found during his many experiments. The training itself had changed dramatically in the short time since it had begun. Without the fear of silent assassin’s creeping in the shadows, the master and student were free to work unencumbered. Once they had broken 100 sticks they moved on to hand to hand combat, incorporating kicks and holds as well learning the intricacies of the human body: which bones were easily broken and which soft tissues could be targeted and taken advantage of. In the 6th week,while looking in a mirror, Lilian noticed a change in her shoulders. They seemed somehow rounder, or broader. She found that she no longer became out of breath just by running up to the shelf, instead the exhaustion would come half way through the morning. In time, new groups of visitors arrived in Benlunar and Lilian made sure to keep a look out for any silver brooches, not having been able to gain any more information from brother Thomas about his. In the late afternoons she would wonder the woods with Kilde, setting traps baited with deer meat, or stalking foul from the bushes hoping they would attract the attention of the mysterious Feinhound. But even this past time, with its promise of magic and mystery, grew monotonous and soon became a once-a-week activity rather than an everyday occurrence.
When the day in question arrived, Summer was in full swing, which for Benlunar meant that it was a cool morning which would be followed by a hot afternoon. The Snow on top of the mountain had almost all disappeared and Lilian arrived on the stone shelf at the usual hour only to find it empty. This wasn’t unusual, Lilian often arrived before Mr Attorcop and whenever she did she would normally start stretching and warming up her body before his arrival. Today however, she decided to postpone warming up in favour of gazing out over the valley. The trees were in full bloom and it had rained the day before which meant the view was as clear as it could get. Without any cloud or mist, Lilian noticed that from the stone shelf she could see the end of the valley, where the mountains became hills and the hills became fields. She had never travelled as far as that in all her life but she knew that the fields belonged to another settlement that was nestled somewhere in the hills. Lilian turned round at the sound of footsteps behind her.
“My apologies Lilian,” Mr Attorcop was walking towards her carrying a large pack, “I was busy finding us some supplies.”
“Supplies?” enquire Lilian, “Where are we going?” Mr Attorcop turned around and pointed upwards.
“Up there.” Lilian followed his gaze to the mountain’s peak and her heart leapt, today would be a perfect day for the hike. She smiled widely and almost ran past Mr Attorcop in excitement.
“Alright, alright slow down now. If we’re going to do this we need to be slow and deliberate, we’ll set a steady pace and stick to it and we should reach the peak by early afternoon.” Lilian agreed and lead the way back to the path marker only instead of going down their usual route back to town, she turned uphill and set off for the next pile of stones that signalled the way to the Benlunar peak.
With each step up the air became thinner and after 2 hours Lilian could feel the altitude sickness setting in. They had left paths and path markers far behind and were now inching their ways across narrow ridges, constantly watching for loose rocks, one slip up here and one would not stop falling for a very long time. Luckily the route was well trodden and Lilian knew exactly which rocks to hold on to and which ones might let you down. Occasionally she would stop to observe the view and catch her breath, the latter being surprisingly difficult as the oxygen near the peak was very thin. Even Mr Attorcop, who normally made any physical activity seem easy, seemed to be struggling with the lack of air. Whenever they found a suitable outcrop or flat surface they would stop and drink water from Attorcop’s pack. Finally, in the early afternoon Lilian hauled herself over a boulder to see the peak only a few steps away. The child in her wanted to run towards it and claim herself to be the winner of the race, but common sense and fatigue slowed her down to a steady climb.
The peak of Benlunar mountain was, in every sense of the word, a breathtaking place. Any conversation, no matter how fascinating, died when travellers reached the top. From here, Lilian could see in all directions, she even looked down on the peaks of other mountains in the distance. The trees down below stretched out until the world curved them out of sight. By her feet, she noticed a small pile of stones, a path marker like those that had lead the way, only a lot smaller due to the lack of visitors. Mr Attorcop joined her on the small surface that made up the top of the mountain and handed her a flat rock he must have picked up moments earlier. Lilian smiled and symbolically placed it on the pile.
“There.” she said, “What do you think?” Mr Attorcop was at a loss. He simply breathed in a deep breath, smiled and nodded and finally said,
"Yes. I think this will do nicely.”
“Nicely for what?” Replied Lilian.
“Sit.” Mr Attorcop sat down and motioned for Lilian to sit opposite him. He took the pack from his back and rummaged around inside whilst admiring the view. He pulled out some bread and cheese wrapped in wax cloth as well as two apples and some grapes. The two ate in silence for some time, catching their breath and enjoying the expansive scenery. Finally, Mr Attorcop spoke.
“Do you remember when we were crouched behind that bush in the fog? The day Kissandra followed our trail up the mountain?” Lilian nodded, she did remember, she remembered being unable to see through the thick mist and the spiders crawling across the forest floor. She listened as Mr Attorcop continued,
“What do you remember feeling and thinking when we were hiding?” He took a final bite of his apple before wrapping the core in the wax cloth.
“I remember being scared, I remember it was hard to breathe because I didn’t want to make a sound, I was just listening and I remember feeling… I dunno, helpless I suppose.” Mr Attorcop nodded and shifted his feet under him so that he was sat cross legged with a straight back with his hands in his lap. He motioned for Lilian to copy him, which she did.
“I want you to close your eyes and take a deep breath.” Lilian did as she was asked. She felt the cold air breeze through her hair, she shut her eyes and breathed it in, its scentless chill filled her lungs. She breathed out and felt the tension from the morning’s hike melt into the wind.
“I want you to keep breathing, slowly and deeply, allowing your body to relax as you do. At the same time, I want you to recall your state of mind that day in the fog. Remember what it felt like to have your ears straining to hear the slightest sound. It’s the same state you might find yourself in if you wake up in the night and you hear a noise that you can’t identify, and for a few seconds you keep very still and try to listen out for it again.”
Lilian thought she understood the feeling Mr Attorcop was describing. She felt her ears move as well as her nostrils widen.
“Don’t forget to pair this with the breath.” He reminded her, “Without this you’ll tense up and stop breathing, the goal here is to be in two states at once. One is constant and relaxed, achieved through regular deep breathing, the other is one of hyper attention. Both of these together will root you in the present moment. In this state, I want you to tell me what you can hear.” Lilian’s first instinct was to say, ‘nothing’, because up on the highest peak in the region, there really was very little noise. The silence was almost eerie considering the plethora of sights. But Lilian concentrated, and breathed deeply and put herself as best she could in the state of increased attention. At first all she heard was the breeze in her ears but then she realised that that sort of qualified as a sound, so she said,
“I can hear the breeze.”
“Breeze does not make a sound. Air only makes a sound if it hits something, what is the breeze hitting?”
“My ears.” Replied Lilian, wondering if she was making some sort of mistake.
“What else?” Said Mr Attorcop. Lilian paused for a second.
“My hair. I can hear my hair moving around.”
“Good.” Said Mr Attorcop, “Now you’ve got a ball of attention around your head, I want you to widen the ball, make it big enough to encompass the mountain top where we’re sat. What else can you hear?” Again, Lilian paused and listened before answering.
“I can hear you breathing. I can hear your clothes move when you do. I just heard a rock or a pebble fall I think. It was a little sound behind me.” Lilian strained now, trying to push her attention outward to the whole area around her. It required a shift in perspective, she started leaning in to try and hear smaller and smaller sounds, sounds that might be coming from very far away.
“I can hear a bird screeching. It’s far down below us I think. I can hear the wind in the trees. There’s another sound too, maybe water? I think there’s a stream nearby, maybe a spring, it’s very faint.” Lilian continued to play this listening game. She found it incredible how only moments ago she had been filtering out these sounds as unimportant but now that she was paying attention to them, more and more were making themselves known. Somewhere nearby, an insect was flying around, she shifted her attention again to find that Mr Attorcop was moving some metal on his person every time he breathed, she could hear its soft and regular clink, keys or perhaps a chain she thought. She felt a smile on her lips as she widened her attention to the valley below. Echoing somewhere far below she could hear water, faster than the spring nearby but still as unmistakable. She wondered if she could hear anything coming from Benlunar town but no matter how hard she tried, that part of the valley seemed hidden, too far and too quiet to be detected right now. After some time she opened her eyes. Mr Attorcop was watching her.
“I could hear loads!” She exclaimed, beaming.
“Good, it is rare, almost impossible to shut one’s eyes and never be able to hear anything at all. This is an excellent place to demonstrate that. Over the next few weeks, I want you to take a few minutes 3 or 4 times a day to close your eyes and practise this.”
“Why?” Asked Lilian.
“Well if we want to get to a point where we can manipulate the natural world, we have to be able to be in tune with it.” Lilian’s heart leapt,
“Does that mean?” She started, eyes widening in excitement, “Does that mean you’re going to teach me how to do…” She wanted to say ‘magic’ but remembered how Mr Attorcop felt about that word.
“Still haven’t come up with a better name have you?” He said, knowingly, “Yes Lilian. You’ve progressed very well with your defense and attack and hopefully the training has placed you more in your body, meaning that combining it with this awareness practise you will in time come to see how your body and thoughts can gain power from and influence the natural world.”
“Will I be able to use the lunar essence?”
“I expect so, although I have no idea when you’ll be ready.” Mr Attorcop stood up as he spoke and Lillian followed him.
“How do I know when I’m ready?”
“I’m sure I’ll tell you.” He replied, picking up his pack from the floor. This frustrated Lillian, she wanted to try using it now, today, on top of this mountain. Mr Attorcop must have sensed her impatience.
“Look here Lillian,” He walked over to the steepest edge of the mountain and pointed down, Lillian joined him and felt her stomach knot as she looked over the edge. A strange sensation crept into her legs, like they might give out at any second. Lillian looked straight down into the thick spiky trees below.
“There are several ways off this peak,” Said Mr Attorcop pointing straight down, “And this is one of them. Another is a slow descent back the way we came. Both paths would take you to the bottom, but I’m sure I know which one you’d rather pick.” Lillian gulped and instinctively took a step back to relative safety, “If I gave you the essence now, it would be the equivalent of me pushing you off this mountain. You’d get what you want, but at a price you’re probably unwilling to pay. Now, follow me, we’re going to head back down. And please listen and take note of your surroundings as we go.”
As they made their way down the mountain, Lilian opened her eyes and ears to the world around her. Every insect that flew past she would turn to follow and see which flower it would land on as well as noting the pitch of the sound its wings made. She found herself hearing water in the distance and underground. She noticed how the breeze through pine needles sounded different to the breeze through birch leaves and the shadows they made on the stone paths were as different and beautiful as the trees themselves. As the reached the mountain path she widened her attention to encompass the entire mountain. She felt small and reassuringly insignificant in its presence. Her entire village had been born and would die and disappear in the time it would take this mountain to move an inch. Next to its glorious immortality, her problems and worries disappeared into meagre oblivion. She breathed easier now that they were approaching the stone shelf and she wondered if she might be able to live like this forever. In constant vigilance and presence of mind, seeing without judgement and living without past or future. Just the sun’s rays warming her face and the sound of nature all around her. But Lilian knew that sooner or later the future would bring concern and the past would present resentment but for now, these didn’t matter and when Benlunar town appeared in front of her, she smiled as if seeing an old friend after many months apart.
Mr Attorcop had said very little on their way down but when they got to the Thoreson house he turned to Lilian to say goodbye for the day.
“I enjoyed that,” He mused, “we don’t have any mountains near Freedos so I like to climb it whenever I’m here.”
“How many times have you been to Benlunar?” Asked Lilian.
“Oh countless. I find it the perfect place to escape the inane institutions and customs of the city. But I will probably be heading back to Freedos this week, or the next.” Lilian was shocked, she knew Mr Attorcop would be leaving eventually, but this news still surprised her. She noticed him looking at her, his eyebrows raised as if asking a question.
“If you wish for our lessons to continue, you will have to come with me. I would also greatly appreciate your help with my work in Freedos. I often find myself having to be in two places at once and with someone helping me I might actually be able to achieve this. I know you’ve probably been giving this much thought, but rest assured, I plan on coming back to Benlunar in a couple of years.” Two years, thought Lilian. Two years away from her parents. Two years away from all of this. Lilian didn’t know if she was ready for that. When Mr Attorcop opened the front door of the Thoresen house Lilian was surprised to see her Mother in the main hall talking to Mr Stepson. When they heard the door open they both looked up and seemed relieved to see Mr Attorcop walking in. Lilian’s mother rushed over to them.
“Lilian, where have you been?” She seemed panicked and stressed, her worry almost bleeding into anger.
“We climbed the mountain…” Lilian mumbled a response but it didn’t seem like her mother was really expecting an answer as she turned quickly to Mr Attorcop.
“Mr Attorcop,” She said imploringly, “Please can you help? A friend of mine, her son is sick, Our local doctor is there but he says he doesn’t have what he needs to help. I thought of you because, well Lilian says you’re a scientist.” Mr Attorcop approached her slowly and spoke in a soothing voice.
“Of course Mrs Lausanne, I will do what I can. Just let me head up to my quarters and fetch some things, I’ll meet you there, Lilian can show me the way.” He broke off into a run and took the stairs two at a time. Lilian’s Mum turned to her and Lilian finally asked the question that had been gnawing at her.
“Who is it Mum?”
“Oh my love,” She replied, “I don’t know how bad it is but Stine is worried.” Lilian knew that name. Stine. Stine Vichas was Kilde’s mother. Lilian pushed panic aside and steeled herself.
“Go and get them some fresh water and we’ll meet you there.” Lilian’s Mum was taken aback. Who was this confident woman, she thought? Where is my little Lilian? It was strangely at the same time that she realised that Lilian was not on a step or stood on a chair her but was looking at her at eye level from the same carpeted floor. How had she not noticed this new height until now?
“Go.” Repeated Lilian and Polly Lausanne was shocked into action. Lilian wanted to follow her but knew she had to stay. For a second, a silence descended on the wooden walled, carpeted corridor. Lilian found her feet shifting, as if on their own, into the locked defensive stance that Mr Attorcop had forced them into time and again when preparing her for a fight. Right leg in front, toes pointed slightly inwards, left leg behind, ready to send the body forward or receive weight if the body is pushed back. She was ready and waiting. She glanced towards the large and ornate staircase with its carved bannisters. Mr Stepson was still there. Stood in silence and waiting as patiently as Lilian. The two made eye contact but knew that no words needed to be exchanged. Now was not the time for talk.
After about a minute and a half Lilian heard the sounds of Mr Attorcop rushing down the stairs, he appeared at the top of the main staircase clutching a black bag that clinked and rattled with each step. As he approached Lilian he waved his hand out in front of him signalling her to exit and lead him to where he was needed. The pair paced their way through Benlunar, breaking into a jog whenever they weren’t impeded by people or narrow streets. Lilian lead the way, taking every shortcut she knew so that they could get to the back of the trade’s quarter and into Kilde’s house as quickly as possible.
The Vichas house was small, and the wooden front door with a metal ring knocker opened easily when pushed. Mr Attorcop ducked his head, rushed past Lilian and went through the small front room with its dining table and wood stove and headed to the door at the back where Lilian could hear voices. She knew this to be Kilde’s room and she followed Mr Attorcop to the door. As he opened and stepped inside, Lilian caught a glimpse of her friend lying in his bed, it was only a glimpse however as at that moment, her mother stepped out and blocked her path. Her voice was low and quick,
“It’s getting a bit crowded my love. Let's step outside.”
“I want to see him.” Argued Lilian but her mother’s tight grip on her shirt forced her back. Lilian looked through the crack in the doorway as it closed and noticed how pale her friend looked. His eyes were closed and his Mum was by his side, gripping his hand. Lilian felt angry as her way to him was blocked, she almost turned to shout at her Mum but caught herself before she did. It was true, she thought. She wouldn’t be any help in there. Best leave it to Mr Attorcop. She began to pace around the small front room.
“What happened?” She asked her Mum, keeping her voice low so as not to disturb.
“I’m not sure. Stine came round this morning saying Kilde had been sick in the night and asking if we had any ginger. I gave her some and didn’t think much of it. But later I went round with some mint water and some honey and he’d gotten worse. He wasn’t speaking and kept fainting so I went to get Mr Rumex and he gave him…” Her speech faltered, she was still in shock. “He gave him some tincture but it doesn’t seem to have helped.” Lilian’s head was racing. She took a deep breath to calm herself. This was a tough situation, she thought, but nothing that Kilde couldn’t handle. Lilian remembered the time that she’d promised him 6 silver bits if he ate a worm. She watched him do it so quickly that she regretted offering so much. He probably would have eaten it for a copper head and a good story and would have still been absolutely fine and healthy. He was a fighter. A scrappy little prince who wouldn’t hurt a bee if it stung him.
“I don’t understand.” She said out loud, almost without realising it. “I saw him two days ago and he was fine.” Lilian’s mother looked up from where she was now sat at the table. She didn’t know what to say, for all her height and confident manner, her daughter was still so young. Polly Lausanne had known more of sickness, more of injuries and the dangers of infection. And she also knew that sometimes, these things came without reason and without explanation and it was in these times that she put her trust in the decision of Gods and their strange ways.
“Lilian,” she whispered. “Come, sit with me.”
The two women sat, mostly in silence. They waited and listened and patiently. They sat like this for the best part of the evening, listening to the occasional murmured voice and soft step from the room at the back of the house. Lilian felt helpless and impotent. More than once she felt anger rise inside her but quickly remembered how being angry rarely helped anyone. Finally, Mr Attorcop stepped out of the room, wiping sweat from his brow.
“He’s awake.” He said softly and Lilian didn’t wait for another word before standing up and brushing past him into Kilde’s room. The atmosphere inside was tense and still. Lilian edged slowly towards Kilde’s small bed. Her friend was still very pale but his eyes were open and he was looking at his mother. As Lilian approached he turned to look at her. A small smile crept across his lips. His mother, Stine, spoke first.
“He needs rest. So maybe just a quick word.” Lilian nodded in understanding and knelt down so as to be closer to him. It was if she was looking at different boy. A boy with red around his eyes and sweat streaking his hair back from his face. It was only his smile, and his eyes that told Lilian that this was indeed Kilde.
“Hi Lily.” His voice came through softly.
“Hey.” Lilian wasn’t sure what to say so she put her hand over his, it was cold to the touch, despite the heat of the room.
“I’m not feeling too good.” Whispered Kilde.
“That’s okay.” She replied, “you just sleep and rest. And… and… and we’ll go down to the river in the morning.” Kilde smiled and nodded. His eyes closed for a second and then reopened. He looked at Lilian as if noticing her again. He smiled. And Lilian smiled back, happy that she was making him happy for he was always making her smile, even now.
“I’ll rest.” He spoke again, very softly now.
“Yes.” Said Lilian, “You rest. You rest now and then I’ll come see you tomorrow.” Lilian thought she saw a small nod but it may have just been Kilde relaxing into his pillow. Lilian looked at his mother and smiled as she got up to leave.
That night Lilian had trouble sleeping. She tossed and turned in her bed, throwing off her cover only to go and get it. She must have finally found some sleep however as she woke up from a dream when her Mum opened her bedroom door. It was still dark but the moon was shedding some light through her bedroom window. The cold glow of the moon was all she needed to see the shape of her mother open her door and step slowly into her room. Lilian sat up in confusion as she watched her mother approach her bed and sit beside her. As she sat, the moon’s light fell on her face and Lilian could see tears glistening in the darkness. Why was she crying? Thought Lilian, still half asleep. But then she knew. And when she knew, her vision blurred with her own tears and she felt her mother’s warm embrace as she wept and wept until morning.
Lilian Lausanne woke up a few days later, the memories of church services and traditional burials rushing around her head. She awoke to find a now familiar weight on her chest. A crushing sadness keeping her from getting out of bed. It had been like this every morning since that night. Lilian did not have the energy to run up mountain paths, or practise fighting bearded teachers. She did not want to eat. She did not want to speak. The only thing motivating her to get out of bed was a desire to help Stine and her Mum, she did not want them to have to deal with everything alone, so she volunteered to spread the word, as well as help Brother Thomas with the service. But as soon as her daily duties were done Lilian would walk away from Benlunar. Sometimes she would visit the Padda Stone, sometimes she would walk through the forests and return home after the sun had gone down beyond the horizon. Today would be no different. After managing to eat a little lunch that her Mum and Dad had prepared, she went over to Stine’s house to ask if anything needed doing. But when her knocking got no reply she found herself walking towards the river a little earlier than usual. She wanted to keep moving. Stillness allowed unwanted thoughts and memories to creep in, she found that as long as she kept walking she could focus on her steps rather than her sadness. She could walk for hours like this, and more than once in the past few days had she found herself looking up at unfamiliar surroundings and having to trace her steps back to town. Lilian walked like this now. As if she was at the bottom of an ocean, grief pushing all other emotions away. She saw leaves under her feet and dodged tree trunks that interrupted her path. It was here, in the deepest pit of sorrow, here in the darkest depths she had known in all her years it was here where all fear and fun had left her. It was here she first met the Feinhound.
Benlunar - Episode 8
In suspicious circles.
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?” Brother Thomas’ voice came from far away. It was audible, but somehow quiet and unimportant. The way the constant sound of the breeze might get filtered out of one’s attention. Lilian knew she should reply but currently had so many questions running through her head that she was busy figuring out which one to address first. The cold weight of the silver brooch in her hand was pulling her thoughts in like a magnet. In a split second, she weighed up her options, she wanted to know why Brother Thomas had an identical brooch to that of the woman who only that morning had tried to assassinate her mentor but she didn’t want to reveal too much about her role in the events. As the small room at the back of Benlunar’s Stave Church came back into focus, she realised that she must have been staring at the brooch for a suspiciously long time. Lilian had to think of something quickly,
“This is nice.” She said, holding the brooch up in front of her. She checked it again to see whether it was indeed identical to the one she’d seen on the cloak of Kissandra the hired killer. There was no doubt. Everything from the arrangement of the fingers, to the polish of the silver was similar to the one she’d seen. Brother Thomas held the box from which it had fallen open in front of him as if to receive it. When he spoke, Lilian paid close attention to his every word and mannerism, hoping he might accidentally reveal something,
“Yes. My uncle gave me that. I don’t wear it anymore though, a bit garish for a church brother’s robes don’t you think?” Lilian placed the brooch back in the box and quickly picked another question,
“I feel like I’ve seen brooches like this before. Maybe one of the tourists from Freedos was wearing one?”
“It’s very possible.” Replied Brother Thomas, turning away to put the box back on the shelf it had fallen from. There was nothing in his reactions that suggested to Lilian any hint of secrecy or wrongdoing, but she couldn’t help but see Brother Thomas in a very different light from only moments before. She began to think back to when she first met him, she had only been a child then, probably around 3 or 4 years old. She didn’t remember much of his arrival in Benlunar, but she did know that he did not grow up in the village. In which case, she thought, who had he been before he arrived? And why did he choose Benlunar in particular to make his home? She didn’t want to push her luck with more questions, but she also didn’t want to drop the subject, making her bringing it up at any later date seem more suspicious. She decided upon a different tactic.
“My parents don’t let me wear jewelry like that.” To add to the innoquous nature of the statement Lilian coupled it with a relaxed gaze around the room, she even briefly considered sitting in the armchair by the fireplace, putting her feet up as if she was in her own room.
“Well I’m sure they have their reasons. Something like that is quite valuable and they might worry you would lose it or worse, someone might try and take it from you. Now, I’m sorry to be rude, but I have a few more things to prepare before tonight’s service.” Lilian turned towards the door, in the few steps towards it she wondered if this was Brother Thomas changing the subject. As she reached the doorway she knew she had one more opportunity to ask about the brooch before her persistence became suspicious. She turned and, in her most relaxed tone possible, said,
“Where do you think I could find a brooch like that?” She watched Brother Thomas turn back to her with his small smile fixed on his face. Before he spoke however, he paused. To anyone watching the scene they would not have noticed it, but Lilian saw that for a fraction of a moment Brother Thomas did not know how to answer the question. He simply smiled, breathed in and then answered ever so slightly too late,
“I’m afraid I don’t know. Silver is heavy and clunky though, much more suited to the city. Besides, I prefer the amber jewelry made here in Benlunar, don’t you?” Lilian smiled in agreement, said goodbye and then left the room. As she walked through the church’s main hall, her footsteps echoing off the stone slabs one thought repeated itself over and over in her head. He’s hiding something.
That evening Lilian and her parents visited the Stave Church for the service. They had insisted on making her wear one of her least favourite dresses. A pale green thing that barely fit but that was made for her by Kilde’s mother. Apparently she had hinted a few days ago that she had never seen Lilian wear it so here she was fulfilling her neighbourly duty, one ugly dress at a time. Lilian would normally have put up much more of a fight against wearing the dress but she had more important things on her mind. As the Benlunar locals and the visitors from Freedos mingled and took their seats in the Church hall, Lilian kept an eye out for any suspicious activity. She spotted Mr Attorcop who was too busy talking to the woman next to him to pay her any attention. The stalls and seats in Stave Churches were conveniently laid out in a large circle. It was supposed to represent community or togetherness but Lilian found it most useful when having to spy on everyone around her without having to crane her neck. She spotted the man in orange, the judge that Mr Attorcop had helped a few days ago. This time though he wasn’t wearing orange, but instead was dressed in a wonderful blue doublet decorated with pearls and what Lilian thought must have been dried flowers. Lilian and her parents took seats on the third tier round to the left as they entered the hall. This was where they usually sat for Church services, only they weren’t usually surrounded by outsiders, like the young couple behind them dressed in matching grey or the elderly man to their right who sported a rather fantastic looking feather in his hat. There were a lot more visitors in attendance than Lilian had thought there would be, Brother Thomas would be pleased she thought.
Just as everyone found their seats, the echoing murmurs died down and Brother Thomas entered the central space and addressed the crowd. He was wearing formal Church Robes and greeted everyone with his signature smile and welcoming nature. The circular hall and the wooden walls meant that he did not have to raise his voice very much to be heard.
“Friends new and old,” he began, “I would like to welcome you to tonight’s gathering, which I see as a celebration of connection. For hundreds of years Benlunar has been host to visitors from around the world, each come for a different reason, and it is our pleasure to welcome them all and try our very best to make sure their stay is enjoyable…”
Lilian began to feel tired. Perhaps it was her body’s natural reaction to sitting and listening to someone talk, or perhaps the rigours training was finally catching up with her. What ever it was, she had trouble keeping her eyes open almost as soon as Brother Thomas began to speak. If it hadn’t been for that afternoon’s discovery, she may have succumbed to her tiredness and drifted off as she had done in this church so many times before. But now she paid extra attention to Brother Thomas’ words as well as his manner. It was as if she was looking at one of Benlunar’s many tourists, a new man she had yet to meet and talk with.
“If your God is not depicted on these walls or in our songs,” he continued, “please do not let that make you feel unwelcome. Our Gods are closely connected to our stories and the world around us but that does not mean we cannot learn from your stories and your experiences and indeed, your Gods.”
Gaining nothing of interest from Brother Thomas, Lilian decided to scan the crowd around her. She was looking for silver brooches, for suspicious faces or for anything that might be out of the ordinary. But after wondering if a man sat on the back row opposite her was signalling to someone or merely picking his nose, Lilian realised that she was probably just bored.
It was half way through the local choir’s first song, just before Lilian was about to shut her eyes and settle into a cosy sleep, when she noticed it. A dark haired woman, in a deep blue gown and a fur stole glanced directly at Lilian, looked back at the choir, and then moments later, glanced again. Lilian had caught eyes with her when everyone had sat down earlier, but she assumed that this was merely because everyone was looking at everyone else. The woman was sat to Lilian’s right, not directly opposite her in the circle so it was difficult for Lilian to be sure of the woman’s glances without obviously turning her head and looking at her. Lilian shifted her weight slightly so that her body was facing slightly to the right and then employed a similar trick to the one she did that morning, closing her eyes so that to anyone looking at her, she would seem to be asleep, but all the while keeping them ever so slightly open so that she could peer through her eyelashes. Luckily this didn’t make her stand out too much as some of the older church occupants had shut their eyes only minutes after sitting on the cushioned benches. In the low light of the Church hall, Lilian found it difficult to see in this manner but it only took her a couple more songs to be sure. The blue woman was looking right at her and was now barely looking away at all. Lilian felt nerves creep into the the pit of her stomach. Surely another attacker from Bana House wouldn’t strike within the sacred walls of a church? Would they? Lilian remembered that all her family and friends were inside as well and she felt her heart quicken. She opened her eyes just in time to catch the blue woman look away towards the choir. Lilian found Mr Attorcop in the crowd and saw him looking at the floor near the choir, his eyes also half closed in weariness. It would be impossible for her to get his attention and signal to him that she was being spied on. In fact, Lilian realised that while the service was happening it would be impossible for her to do anything without drawing unwanted attention. She resolved to wait until the end and then try to find Mr Attorcop to warn him about a potential second threat. She thought about how useful a bottle of Lunar essence would be at this moment. She could plunge the church in to darkness and then sneak away unseen, if she knew how that is.
After what seemed like an entire season, but was in fact just over an hour, the service ended. Brother Thomas said a few final words, reminding everyone to be friendly with each other or what ever and Lilian could finally stand up and put her plan into action. She waited patiently until her row emptied out and then ducked her head low so as to easily slip in and amongst the crowd without being seen. Once she had made it out of the door and to the square she turned back to see if she could spot Mr Attorcop or her parents. She had assumed they would be right behind her but in her haste she had left them behind. There was no commotion or disturbance happening in the church so Lilian assumed her parents were fine for the time being. To her left there was a small birch tree, planted into the ground beneath the square, the stones were carefully placed around its base so that it looked like part of the design. Lilian leant on the tree and kept an eye on the crowds exiting the Church. After a large group of visitors in their city finery came out stretching and chatting about the wonderful singing, Lilian saw the woman in blue step into the open and look around. She was clearly scanning the faces of everyone around her, not hiding the fact that she was looking for someone. Lilian wondered if she might spot her and pinned herself to the papery birch trunk. The trunk was not wide enough to conceal her completely, but it did hide her form and size enough to confuse anyone that might be looking out for her. Now that the tables were turned, Lilian watched as the woman in blue walked through the crowd alone, still scanning each face as she went. Just then, a small dog that must have belonged to one of the Freedos tourists as Lilian had never seen it before, sidled up to the tree and began to sniff around it. The dog was fluffy black and white with a pointed snout and it looked as though it could easily be accidentally stepped on, it was so small in fact that Lilian barely noticed it sniffing around her feet. She managed to dodge out of the way just in time as it raised its leg. This frightened the little creature and it began to yap and bark and fuss at Lilian who vainly tried to shush it at the same time. She had to look down to avoid stepping on it and when she looked back up she saw that several people were looking over at her to see what the commotion was and the woman in blue had disappeared.
“I’m so sorry.” Lillian looked up to see a rather large woman in a pink bodice and white skirt hurrying over to her, “He’s just fussy because he’s hungry.” She leaned forward and spoke to the little dog, “Marco come here. Marco, here. Here Marco.” The little dog paid her no attention and instead continued to sniff Lilian’s foot.
“Come here Marco, come come pet. Come here my prince. Stop bothering this young lady, he doesn’t bite he’s very friendly.” Lilian didn’t see a bite from this animal as being something she might have to worry about. Losing her patience she bent down, picked up the dog which promptly stuck its tongue out in surprise and handed it to its owner.
“Thank you my darling.” She said before turning away and fussing over her dog some more.
Lilian looked back at the crowd and saw her Mother waving at her. She was about to head towards her when one final look round revealed something. Across the square in between two houses she noticed a flash of what looked like blue material disappearing into the alley. Lilian ran over to her mother and said something about seeing her back at home before sprinting away. Before she reached the alley however, Lilian had a flash of conscience. Was pursuing a strange woman a good idea? Night was slowly falling on the Benlunar and Lilian glanced up to see the first few stars peering through wispy, pink clouds. Only weeks ago she would never have dreamed of putting herself in this much danger, but something about her training with Mr Attorcop had emboldened her. She felt as though if she did encounter any danger, she would be able to defend herself easy enough. And so she dipped carefully into the alleyway and made her way down it. The buildings were so close together here that it was as if night had already taken this part of the town. The alley lead to a small side street which Lilian knew well, although she hadn’t been there in several months. Going left would take her to the outskirts of town while going right would bring her to the back of the Fox and Octopus Inn. She glanced in both directions before having her mind made up by another flash of blue material to her right. Conscious of the noise her smart sandals were making, she slowed down and made her way quietly towards where she had just seen the dress flick into a doorway. Lilian hugged the wall as she approached, staying low so as to keep out of sight. The doorway up ahead was the back entrance to a house but Lilian couldn’t remember who lived there. As she approached it she heard voices, a woman’s and a man’s but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. As she edged closer to listen, she considered turning back but thought that even if she gained even a little bit of information on the silver hand brooches or Bana House or anything, the risk would have been worth it. The voices were very low, despite being so far from any crowds so Lilian had to step further and further forward. She was practically at the doorway, almost able to lean out from the wall and peer in when the unthinkable happened. Lilian had been so focused on hearing what was being said that she hadn’t noticed the dark puddle beneath her foot. The soft slap of water as her foot went in was enough to cause the voices to stop. Lilian considered turning to run but didn’t have time to put any sort of plan into action before the face of a tall man appeared in front of her. He’d almost jumped from the doorway into the alley in an effort to catch whoever had made the sound and when his eyes fell on Lilian they widened in surprise. This quickly turned to anger,
“What in the seven stars are you doing sneaking around?” Lilian froze, ready to fight, ready to run, but not ready to deal with questions. The man was dressed in dark grey and had a round, rather handsome face. Lilian had seen if before but it took a second before she could place it in her memory. He was the man who had been sat directly behind her during the service at the Stave Church. Before she could answer his question, the woman in blue came out from beyond the doorway to see what was happening. The light was low but Lilian could see that her cheeks were flushed. Lilian looked at the couple, she couldn’t see any suspicious brooches but something about the meeting still felt, conspiratorial.
“Well?” the tall man spoke again and this time Lilian knew she had to answer, so she lied.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb I just… I’m going to the Fox and Octopus to meet my parents and I thought I’d take a shortcut.” The tall man weighed her answer,
“Why were you tiptoeing around then?”
“I heard voices and I got scared.” The man clearly still had his doubts but thankfully, at that point, the woman in blue, stepped in to ease the tension.
“William,” she said to the tall man, “she’s only young, it’s ok.” She put an arm on his shoulder and Lilian watched him relax and breathe again. He mumbled an apology, Lilian had clearly scared him, which was strange, she thought, as he was almost twice her height. The woman in blue smoothed her dress and approached Lilian cautiously.
“My Lady,” she began, “Please excuse my, friend, he’s a gentle giant really. Please, don’t let us keep you.” Lilian found herself smiling at her manner. She spoke as if she was reading a story and her voice floated on the gloaming like silk in the wind, and when she said, ‘My Lady’, Lilian almost blushed. Instead of replying, Lilian just smiled and bowed and lowered her eyes as she fumbled past them in the small street. Before she was quite clear of them the woman in blue spoke again,
“Oh and, if I might ask a favour.” Lilian turned to come face to face with the woman’s large, brown eyes.
“Yes?” Said Lilian, the words almost catching in her throat.
“If anyone should ask, not that they would.” Lilian saw the tall man cast a sideways glance at his friend, she continued, “we would very much appreciate it if you kept this meeting to yourself.” The woman smiled sweetly whilst nudging her friend in his side. Catching on, the tall man reached into his pocket and pulled out a shiny gold coin and placed it in Lilian’s palm. The two strangers then just looked at Lilian and waited for her to react. Lilian wasn’t quite sure how to react so she reverted back to what Kilde would do in this situation.
“Thank you Sir, thank you my lady. Please, there is no need to worry. Consider the meeting gone from my memory. I wish you both a pleasant evening.” And with that she turned around and darted down the alley towards the back of the Fox & Octopus.
Once she reached the back of the Inn she turned around to see if anyone was behind her. She knew that Liny and Xander would have had no problem with her entering through the back door but seeing as no one was following her, she decided to run past it and head further down the alley. This path would take her to the trades quarter of Benlunar, near Jacob’s yard. It was a roundabout way to get home and she’d have to cut through the trees to get to her path, but seeing as it was a warm evening, Lilian didn’t mind the extra walk. When she reached the empty cobbled street that passed between the various yards and smithys she looked down at the weighty coin in her hand. The gold shone brightly even in the low light of the evening. It was a gold Sovereign, Lilian knew it because of the outline of Empress Silvia’s face on the one side, and the crest of Alicium on the other. She had never held a sovereign before, most Benlunar citizens traded with copper heads or occasionally silver bits but with this coin she could go into the Fox and Octopus and buy drinks for everyone in there for the whole night, or she could buy her own horse or a whole wardrobe of new clothes. Her mind was racing at the possibilities, so much so that she only just noticed the slick, scarlett liquid on the floor before putting her foot in it. Lilian stumbled to a stop, confused. One of the cobblestones at her feet was unmistakably wet, the light was very low now but Lilian had the intermittent brightness of the moon to help her. She waited several seconds for a small cloud to pass in front of it before she could tell for sure what it was she was looking at. A small patch of what looked like oil was splashed on the stones. The strange liquid was laid out in patches that formed a trail in front of her. Making sure not to tread on any of it, Lilian followed the strange splashes and drips down the street. They lead her to a stone wall, round the corner from Jacob’s yard. The liquid was plentiful here and seemed to end at the base of the wall. Lilian brought her hand up to her mouth in a gasp. She hadn’t wanted to believe that the liquid was blood, but there was no denying it now. At the base of the wall was a mass of black and white fur, eerily still in the darkness. It was roughly the size of a large rabbit or… or a small dog. No. Lilian thought, it couldn’t be. Just then she heard a sound from down the street where she had come from. A cooing and calling. She turned to see the light of a torch coming from the other end of the street and the shapes of several people walking towards her. Lilian hastily put the gold coin in her shoe and started walking towards the group. If the pile of fur and blood behind her was what she thought it to be, she couldn’t bring herself to let its owner discover it without warning.
“Marco!” A woman’s voice cut through the darkness followed by that of a man’s. The small group had yet to discover the first splash so Lilian broke into a run, to catch them before they did.
“Where could he have got to?” She heard the woman’s voice again. Lilian could clearly see them now, the large woman in the pink bodice was being flanked by two men, clearly friends whom she had asked for help in tracking down her runaway pet. All eyes fell on Lilian as she entered the circle of torchlight.
“Oh hello miss,” Said the woman, clearly not recognising Lilian from their earlier encounter.
“I don’t suppose you’ve seen a little dog run through here? He’s white with black spots and he’s oh so precious.” Lilian could see the worry in her eyes and hear it in her voice. She didn’t know how to put in to words what she had to say so she just tried to keep her voice as calm as possible.
“I did Madam. But I’m very sorry to say, I think there’s been an accident.” The woman looked at her, confused.
“An accident?” She repeated.
“Yes. I… your dog is over there but he’s seriously injured, I…” She tried to continue but at the mention of her dog being hurt the woman rushed past her.
“What’s happened? Where is he?” Lilian could only watch along with the two men as the woman in pink ran into the darkness to investigate. Moments later, a scream pierced the night and the two men ran towards the scene of carnage. Lilian was left alone, she looked down to see the still slick stones at her feet, glistening eerily in the moonlight. Lilian felt angry. How dare such a horrible thing reflect the beauty and grace of the moon. She felt a tightness in her throat as she heard the woman’s sobs in the distance. She was at a loss. A loss of how to help, a loss as to what to say or do. Lilian could only stare at the floor. She found her eye being drawn to a crack between the stones where something reflective caught her eye. At first she thought it was just more blood, but then she realised that the light it reflected was different. As she bent down to have a closer look, the object seemed to shift and change in nature. She almost couldn’t get her fingers between the cobbles to reach it, but when she finally managed to extract the thing she saw that it was only a small clump of fur. Just as she was about to throw it away however, the fur changed colour.
Over the next few days, many questions were asked, teams of men were assembled to track or trap the thing that had killed the dog, but nothing was found. At one point, even Lilian was suspected of doing the deed, but the accusation was quickly quashed. Lilian of course showed Kilde the fur she’d found on the scene and the two came up with their own theories as to what happened, most of which involved the mysterious Feinhound. All of the chaos and commotion eventually calmed down and the event was replaced by new and more pressing problems and daily demands. This was of course, many weeks before Kilde died.
Benlunar - Episode 7
The trap is sprung and a deal is made.
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
On the stone shelf, on the edge of Benlunar mountain, where the air is thin and the trees can only grow pins instead of leaves. The sun shines brightly overhead and the sparrow hawks screech into the valley. On the scree and stones that make up the shelf floor, a stranger is suspended mid step. They’re holding a knife in their right hand, the tip of which is almost touching the skin on the throat of a bearded, bald man. A young woman, Lilian, watches all of this as if from many leagues away. Her mind distancing itself so as to maintain its sanity. Slowly though, as she sees the stranger breathing under their cloak, fastened by a hand shaped silver brooch, as she hears the bearded man’s voice speak to the stranger, she is brought back to the present moment with a rush as blood flows into her ear drums.
“Thank you so much for joining us,” Said mister Attorcop, “As you can see, I was hoping you would.” Lilian wanted him to step away from the point of the blade, one quick sneeze, she thought, and he’d be impaled. But instead of stepping back, Mr Attorcop leant forward and dipped his right cheek down towards the blade’s edge. He then slowly dragged his cheeky across it with a soft scraping sound. Lilian saw a few short hairs from the edge of his beard fall onto the stones beneath him. He’s toying with them, she thought. Lilian knew this from the small smile that fell across Attorcop’s lips.
“Well I suppose we should finally see who we’ve been dealing with these past few days.” Attorcop stepped past the knife and threw back the stranger’s hood, in another second he’d lowered their cloth mask revealing the face of a woman. She had dark brown hair and dark green eyes. Lilian thought her very beautiful, particularly as she’d never seen anyone with such tanned skin with green eyes before. She was breathing very quickly and her eyes were darting from Attorcop to Lilian to the sky to the floor as if she was desperately seeking a way out of her own body. Lilian noticed that she was moving small muscles around her cheeks and forehead but the rest of her body was completely fixed in place. Attorcop stepped back, marvelling at the efficacy of his trap. He walked all the way around her and then turned to Lilian and said,
“I mean that’s at least worth losing a toe or something. Look how still she is!” Lilian knew he was referring to the deal he’d made to make this trap possible, she also knew he was making a joke, a joke that Lilian didn’t find particularly amusing.
“Is she alright?” Asked Lilian, in a small voice.
“I assume so, let’s ask her shall we? Hello? Are you alright there?” Attorcop leaned in patronisingly close to the strange woman’s face. Lilian saw her contort her face and desperately try to form words. Through all the effort however, they only came out as a whisper.
“Release me.”
“What’s that?” Replied Attorcop, Lilian knew full well he’d heard her.
“Release me.” The words came out quicker now, but were still spat out through gritted teeth and hatred. Mr Attorcop held his chin in a mock thinking pose.
“Hmm I think I’ll pass on that one if it’s all the same to you. Well, at least until I’ve got some answers of my own. How does that sound? Hm? I ask a few questions and you tell me a few answers and then we all go and grab a bite to eat?” Lilian looked at the woman, she said nothing but Lilian could tell she was desperately trying to think her way out of the situation. Mr Attorcop, hands clasped behind his back, began wondering around her in circles.
“Let’s start with an easy one shall we? Were you hired, or are you working alone?” As Lilian had expected the woman said nothing. Whenever Attorcop came in to view she merely glared at him intently.
“I assume you’re some sort of amateur assassin, is this your first job?” Attorcop spoke the words calmly and matter of factly. Lilian was unsure why he was pursuing this line of questioning but it seemed to produce some results. The strange woman began to breathe quickly and her face grew even angrier and more frustrated. Attorcop must have picked up on this as he continued.
“I see you’ve got a silver hand on your cloak. Is that what your family give to youngsters on their first week? Is it a sort of helping hand?” Lilian realised what he was doing. He was purposefully getting the woman more and more irate. Lilian could see her nostrils flair and she began spitting through her teeth with each breath. Lilian remembered what Mr Attorcop had said about assassin’s wanting their victims to know who they were, she wondered if Attorcop was attacking this woman’s pride. What ever he was doing, it was achieving results. Lilian was still nervous but was less scared now that she saw how relaxed Mr Attorcop was. She decided to join in, if Attorcop was indeed attacking this woman’s sense of self, then being insulted by someone young enough to pose no threat whatsoever might prove useful.
“I know what it means.” She said, Mr Attorcop whipped round to look at her, his expression was worried, perhaps he only meant for her to observe but his facely quickly changed when he listened to what she said.
“I’ve seen hand brooches like that before. They’re given to some children on their first day of school. The silver hand basically says, watch out, my child is a slow learner and needs extra attention.” She saw Mr Attorcop turn to stifle a laugh. The woman’s eyes were now wide in fury.
“Ah yes of course.” Said Mr Attorcop, “I suppose that explains the ineptitude.”
“Enough!” The woman spat the word out through gritted teeth. Considering she hadn’t been saying anything only moments ago, Lilian saw this as a victory.
“If I answer your questions.” The stranger continued, much to Lilian’s surprise. “What guarantee do I have that you’ll release me.” Lilian looked to Mr Attorcop to await his reply. The teasing smile had disappeared from his face, it was now fixed in a serious expression. Lilian expected him to answer formally and fairly, like he always did. She expected him to say something like, ‘you have my word’ or ‘you can trust me’ instead he moved directly in front of the mysterious woman, leant forward near her ear and said,
“You don’t. You just made an attempt on my life, so the way I see things is that every second I allow you to breathe is a gift from whatever God you worship. If you wish to keep breathing, you keep talking, because quite frankly I have no use for silent assassins that I cannot learn anything from.”
Lilian felt a chill run down her spine from her neck. She’d never seen Mr Attorcop like this. His countenance had completely changed, the light around them seem to almost dim as he spoke. There was no trace of humour or heart left in his face and for this first time since meeting him, Lilian realised why someone might want this powerful man dead. The stranger sensed this too as the fight seemed to slowly drain from her eyes. It seemed as though her only options were to talk or…
“My name is Kissandra. I’m from Bana house. In Freedos.” She whispered to Attorcop who stood up straight upon hearing the new information.
“Bana house! Well, I must say that’s disappointing.”
“Why?” Asked Lilian.
“There are many ways to get a person to kill someone for money. You could even pay a group of men at a local tavern, some people make it their business, and some of those people are very expensive and very good at what they do. Then some of them might decide to band together and drive prices up, as well as train new recruits. Bana house is one of those places. But…” Attorcop paused for a second and looked at the Kissandra, “well, it’s not the Endless Well is it?” This produced a furious and shaking response from the suspended Kissandra.
“Those drunken halfwits couldn’t catch a caged chicken.”
“Perhaps not. But nevertheless I’m disappointed my life was only worth one emissary from Bana house. I would have thought my reputation more dangerous than that.” At this Kissandra looked confused, or as confused as she could look with a semi-frozen face.
“You are an advisor to the Empress. A politician who buries himself in books.” Attorcop began walking towards the cliff edge. This time, his hand brushed his beard as if he really was in deep thought.
“Am I now…” Lilian heard him mutter. After a few seconds of gazing out over the valley he snapped his fingers and turned around.
“You were sent by Lord Edward’s Mother, Lady Florentina.” Lilian whipped her head back to witness the reaction from Kissandra but there was none. She said nothing and did nothing and this, Lilian realised was as much of an affirmation as if she had simply agreed with Mr Attorcop out loud.
“Ha!” Shouted Attorcop in triumph, “I knew it. Lilian, there are very few people I tell about my work with the Empress. Mostly I just say I’m an apothecary or a scholar if people ask, but sometimes, I tell certain ambitious individuals that I know and have served Empress Sylvia. Which is true, but only once. The last person I told this to was a woman who wants to see her son marry the Empress. I had agreed to help her, but, then why try to kill me…” As Mr Attorcop spoke his thoughts aloud, Lilian watched Kissandra out of the corner of her eye. The spark of panic had gone and been replaced by dejection and defeat. For this time since she stopped, Lilian wondered what they were going to do once Kissandra of Bana house became unfrozen. Mr Attorcop was wrapping up his train of thought behind her.
“Which is interesting because I knew her when she was a young woman, but she wouldn’t want me dead unless… Unless I knew something that would threaten her son’s eligability, OR something that would make his power unstable once he achieved his goal. I doubt this one is going to tell me anything else are you?” He directed the question at Kissandra, who maintained her silence.
“Well, I suppose this is your lesson for underestimating your target. Do they not teach you that at Bana House?” Mr Attorcop walked over to the outstretched blade and began carefully working out of Kissandra’s grip. It took him a while but once he finally managed to extract it he held it up in front of him and tossed it from hand to hand, testing its weight. Seemingly satisfied with his new acquisition he turned back to Lilian.
“Miss Lausanne, you may wish to avert your eyes from this.” for a second Lilian didn’t understand why he was asking, but she quickly realised what he intended to do.
“What?” She protested, “No no no, you’re not going to, you know…” Mr Attorcop raised a single eyebrow.
“Well I’m not going to braid her hair.” He said, sarcastically.
“You can’t hurt her.” Cried Lilian, “We’ve caught her, she’s lost.” Mr Attorcop’s expression grew strained.
“It’s not that she’s lost, Miss Lausanne, it’s that we’ve won. And that victory would mean very little if we just let her walk away to try again. You do know how Assassin’s work don’t you? I’m sorry it’s her first day.” He directed this to Kissandra who was beginning to look terrified again.
“I know how it works.” Said Lilian, who’s mind was racing to try and find an alternative answer, “You said she was hired right? Can’t we just pay her to not hurt you?” Mr Attorcop was beginning to lose patience.
“And what happens when I return to Freedos, fit as a fiddle and her friends from Bana House spot me? What do you think they’ll do to her? What do you think they’ll do to me?? More’s the point.” Lilian began shaking her head and stepping backwards. There must be an alternative, she kept saying to herself over and over, but realised that repeating the phrase in her head wasn’t allowing any new ideas to enter it. She could feel the stones beneath her feet shift under her weight, she was stepping back towards the edge of the circle now. The edge, she thought, suddenly, she had an idea.
“Then let’s make a deal!” Mr Attorcop rolled his eyes but Lilian ignored him and ran over to face Kissandra. Up close, she could spot small scars on her cheek and could clearly see the silver clasp holding the cloak together.
“Listen,” She started, “My friend here set you up, he caught you and I helped right?” Kissandra said nothing but simply looked intently at Lilian, “that means you lost and if he wanted to he could, I dunno, cut your throat or or or just leave you here frozen or what ever. Which means right now, you’re basically dead.” Kissandra still said nothing, seemingly having worked all this out for herself already, “So here’s what I’m going to say. If you agree not to hurt us in the future, we won’t hurt you right now. You’re paying for something later, understand?” There was a pause, Lilian desperately hoped that Kissandra would agree with her. Finally, through gritted teeth and a cracking voice, Kissandra spoke up.
“I thank you for your mercy. But you do not understand. What do I tell Bana House?” Now it was Lilian who was losing her patience,
“I don’t care what you tell them, make something up! But while you do, be sure to remember that if it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t be telling them anything!” This seemed to persuade Kissandra who looked into Lilian’s eyes and finally ceased to struggle, something must have changed in her, for as soon as she did this she fell to the stone floor in a lump. Lilian trusted the chalk circle and she trusted that Kissandra no longer meant them any harm, she even crouched down to help her stand up. Kissandra’s joints were stiff and aching so she gladly took Lilian’s hand and used it to balance herself while standing up. Mr Attorcop was still a few feet away, wary of the goings on in front of him. As he watched Kissandra stand up he waved her knife in front of him and said,
“And I’m keeping this, by the way.” Lilian shot him an angry look, he wasn’t helping the situation. She turned back to look at Kissandra and was momentarily taken aback at how much taller she was than Lilian had thought. Her dark green cloak, free from the demon’s spell flowed soundlessly in the wind. Kissandra herself stood up straight and took in a deep breath while rolling her head, relieved to have the freedom to move again.
“I thank you for your mercy.” She looked down at Lilian, her voice was clear now, it cut through the breeze and Lilian detected a strong Freedos accent,
“I promise to leave you but I must warn you that Bana House prides itself on completing their missions. I cannot speak for what they will do when they discover my failure. But it is true that I underestimated my target.” She turned to look at Mr Attorcop who was busy studying his new knife.
“I do not recommend you return to Freedos any time soon sir.” Kissandra raised her voice so that Mr Attorcop was sure to hear it. He responded with a curt,
“Mm hm...” Kissandra then turned to look at Lilian.
“You have a kind soul, my lady, I pray that you do not let the city…” She looked back at Attorcop, “Tarnish it.” With that she turned back towards the mountain path and began to walk away. Lilian, still slightly questioning her decision to let Kissandra go, shouted to her.
“And you’re leaving Benlunar, tonight, ok?” Kissandra turned around and bowed deeply, then she stood upright, brought her hands together in a loud clap and promptly disappeared, replaced by a pile of twigs arranged in a strange symbol on the floor.
After Kissandra’s disappearance Lilian turned to Mr Attorcop. She watched him hide the blade in his sleeve and braced herself for a telling off. Instead of shouting or berating her however, he simply walked back to the tree line from where Kissandra had emerged. Lilian would rather have been shouted at than treated so coldly. She looked up to see an empty sky, the birds of prey must have flown back to their nests, she thought, as all she could see now was a blue and beautiful spring sky, stretching from the mountain’s peak across the valley and over the horizon. She noticed how tense she was and relaxed her shoulders as she noticed Mr Attorcop emerge from the trees holding two short sticks, each about the length of Lilian’s arm. He walked across the stones to where Lilian was stood and held one out for her to take. As she did so he said,
“Well done Lilian, you played your part brilliantly, I owe you my thanks, and probably my life.” Lilian didn’t understand.
“What do you mean?” She asked, gripping the stick and feeling the rough wood grain against her palm and fingers.
“I was prepared to kill that woman, although I admit that I didn’t want to. However, if I would never have been able to convince her not to hurt me, not like you did.” As he was speaking he was inspecting his own stick, testing its strength by trying to bend it.
“Why?” Lilian was starting to feel as though she had also been manipulated.
“Well if your job is to kill someone you’re very unlikely to listen to them when they ask you to stop. I mean, that’s exactly what they would say, isn’t it? You however, you came in at exactly the right moment and saved that woman’s life, and for that she rewarded us with mercy. You saw how she dropped from her freeze? That would not have happened had she not relinquished all desires to hurt me. You played on her pride, which you accurately guessed to be her weakness. An excellent piece of diplomacy and now you have a Freedos Assassin in your debt. Perhaps not enough to hire but certainly enough to gain some information, particularly if you threaten to tell Bana House how she failed. Very good work.” Lilian didn’t know whether or not to thank him. She had not been complimented on anything recently and the feeling felt alien to her.
“Mr Attorcop?” She asked, “What would you have done if I hadn’t got her to make the deal?” Mr Attorcop did not reply to this, but instead looked at her with a very serious expression. Lilian had asked a question to which she already knew the answer and so decided to quickly change the subject.
“What are these for?” She held up her stick.
“Well, seeing as you’re happy to bargain with my life I think we should step up your training don’t you Lilian?” Lilian looked up at him,
“What happened to Miss Lausanne?” She joked. Mr Attorcop replied simply,
“I honestly don’t know.”
For the next few hours Mr Attorcop instructed Lilian in a very different form of self defence. It was more aggressive than before, which saw Lilian only blocking and defending herself from attacks. Now she was instructed to block incoming attacks and combine the block with an attack of her own. As Attorcop’s stick would swing towards her, she would strike it with her own and then move in to punch with the fist that gripped the weapon. This would then be blocked by Attorcop’s open palm and the dance would flow and continue. Each time an attack got through Attorcop would stop and show her how to approach blocking it from a variety of different angles but the principle would always be the same. “A block is never just a block,” he would say, “if it is not followed by an attack, it might as well not have happened.” The valley sang with the rhythmic clacks of wood on wood. As soon as Lilian thought she understood something, Attorcop would surprise her with a quick jab or a kick that would knock her to the floor. Despite the bangs and bruises Lilian felt herself enjoying the training more and more. The fluid movement of the fight, coupled with the satisfaction of blocking a difficult or surprising attack made her smile again and again.
When the sun had gone past its peak Lilian was almost collapsing with exhaustion. Mr Attorcop ran through one last block repetition and then took a step back and bowed, signifying the end of the training. Lilian bowed back and the two of them started to walk back down the mountain. They chatted about Benlunar’s history and Lilian learned things even she hadn’t known before. Mr Attorcop knew a surprising amount about the valley town, including the fact that the Padda Stone had indeed been placed there before any building or settlement and that the first building wasn’t the Stave Church, like Lilian would have thought, but actually a sort of Inn where travellers could stay and get out of the winter cold on their pilgrimage through the mountains.
“And was the Padda Stone carved by the travellers?” Asked Lilian, as they approached the outskirts of Benlunar, “Or did it, you know, move there itself?” Lilian dropped her voice to ask this as she didn’t want anyone to over hear her and think she’d left her wits in the hills.
“His name is Gorakja and I don’t think he bothers moving very much. I’m not positive but I believe he came from the mountain, carved by the winds and rains over millenia. He is one of a few such beings.” Lilian watched Mr Attorcop as he spoke. She noticed a change in his voice when he talked about the Padda Stone, a sort of reverence entered into his cadence. A deep, respectful tone that one might find in churches or funerals.
“The next time he wakes up,” Said Lilian, “I want to be there. And this time, I won’t run away.” Mr Attorcop smiled and nodded his head.
“I believe you would get on very well. Now, I shall see you tomorrow morning just here, and we’ll resume training.” They had reached the steps of the Thoreson house and Mr Attorcop began to climb them, before he reached the door he turned back to Lilian and said,
“Well done today Lilian.” The complement came out awkwardly, but Lilian still smiled back in thanks. Mr Attorcop then disappeared through the large wooden door and Lilian turned towards the town centre. The Morning’s events kept running through her head. She picked out moment after moment where things could have gone very differently indeed. She wondered if Kissandra was still hiding in the town somewhere or if she had heeded her request and left immediately. By the time she reached the square she was playing blocking drills over in her head. She looked up to see the town square brimming with life. Its coloured flagstones were barely catching the light of the sun with all the people milling and stepping over them. There were stalls set up by locals and various wears being haggled over by tourists and townsfolk alike. The Stave Church imposed itself on the scene as always, its wooden spire towering over the activity like a teacher in a schoolyard. Near its entrance, Lilian saw brother Thomas struggling to carry some chairs. As she watched, he dropped one and nearly fell over it as he walked, Lilian almost laughed out loud whilst watching him get caught up in his robes whilst vainly trying to carry more chairs than he could manage. She ran over to him and picked up one of the fallen chairs.
“Ah Lilian,” He said, “Thank you so much. I said I’d collect these this morning from Sara’s house, but Brother Ulnar was unable to help me. Would you mind taking them inside?” He gestured for Lilian to go on ahead and she obediently opened the large Church doors so that he could stumble through into the echoing main hall. Lilian then followed brother Thomas as he comedically quickened his step so as to get to the back of the hall without dropping another chair. Lilian looked up at the tall ceiling above her. She never particularly enjoyed the church ceremonies but the building itself never ceased to impress. From the centre of the hall you could see all the way up to the tower floor, which Lilian knew housed an impressive array of bowl bells connected to pipes that flowed in and out of the walls of the tower itself.
“If you could just bring that through to the back here.” Brother Thomas’ voice echoed off the stone floor and wall carvings as he lead her towards a small door which lead to a back room. Lilian had been in here once before, years ago when her mother had asked her to help Brother Thomas decorate the church for the first snow festival, an annual event where Benlunar citizens sing songs and celebrate the coming of winter as a way to off-set the dread of the long cold nights to come.
“Just set them down there, thank you.” He pointed to a corner of the small room where there was already a few mismatched chairs piled on top of each other. The room smelled like tea and Lilian walked past the small fireplace to put her chairs down with the others. Brother Thomas breathed a sigh of relief once the job had been completed.
“Ah, that’s great. Thank you Lilian, we’re just getting ready for tonight’s service. I’m hoping we’ll get some extra people in because of the visitors. Will we be seeing you this evening?” Lilian had all but forgotten about the visitor’s mid stay service. As a show of thanks and welcoming, Benlunar traditionally performed songs and told stories for the city visitors when they were part of the way through their stay. She had planned on going with her parents but all of the recent drama and chaos had pushed it out of her mind.
“Oh, yes I think we’re coming.” This put a smile on Brother Thomas’ face.
“Excellent. Well hopefully it won’t be just you and your family. I was talking to some of the visitors earlier and they weren’t even aware that it was happening so I’m a little worried no one will show up!” Lilian could tell that he was distracted as he kept fumbling with the chord on his robe and tripping over things whilst looking for various parchments and musical instruments. Just as he was complaining about Brother Ulnar not doing his job of advertising the service, he reached up to grab a pile of robes from a high shelf. His stress however affected his judgement and he accidentally knocked a small brass box off the shelf below it. The box crashed to floor and burst open, spraying its contents across the wooden boards. Lilian heard Brother Thomas mutter a word under his breath, one she wouldn’t have even thought Church Brothers knew and she knelt down to start helping him pick up the scattered contents. Most of the objects were useless bits that any household would accumulate over the years. A spool of black thread, a couple of broken paper weights, a hollow sculpture of a frog with a slot in its back meant for coins were all picked up and placed back in the bronze box. Brother Thomas was busy picking up clothes pins when Lilian noticed some of the object had rolled under an armchair near the fireplace. She reached under it, felt around and grasped the first thing her hand felt. It was cold and metallic and had a satisfying weight to it that suggested it might have been quite precious. She pulled her hand out and opened her fist to reveal a shiny, silver brooch in the shape of an open hand.
Benlunar - Episode 6
Story circles
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
“There once was a Princess with 3 brothers. All older than she. The eldest was her father’s favourite, strong and brave. The middle brother was the people’s prince, they loved him for his good looks and charity. The youngest brother was her mother’s favourite, as he was sweet and loving. The princess felt like no one’s favourite, most of the people didn’t even know that the king and queen even had a daughter.
One day, the princess was walking through the forest, alone as usual, when she began to cry. Her tears filled her eyes so much that she could not see where she was going. When she finally stopped crying she realised that she was lost. Whilst trying to find the way out of the forest she came across a Feinhound. He was big and bold with a coat more luxurious than any bird of paradise. The princess knew she should be scared, but she was so sad that she wouldn’t even have minded being eaten. The Feinhound said, “Are you not terrified by my razor teeth?” And the Princess said “No.”
“Are you not afraid of my cutting claws?” Said the Feinhound.
And the Princess said “No.”
“Well do you not tremble at the site of my jaws?” Said the Feinhound.
But still the princess replied, “No”. The Feinhound, practised in the arts of terror, became angry. He had eaten many brave warriors, killed courageous kings and bitten mighty soldiers, yet he could not scare this little princess. She explained to him about her brothers and the Feinhound proposed a deal.
“I can make it so that you are everyone’s favourite.” He said, “I can make you the most loved princess in all the land.” The princess was very happy, but she did not trust the Feinhound.
“If you give me the love of my parents and the people, what must I give you in return?” At this the Feinhound smiled, “Oh nothing,” he said, “just a little patience.” And so the princess agreed and the Feinhound showed her out of the forest and back to her castle.
Over the next few weeks, nothing changed for the princess. She was still ignored by her parents and treated as almost invisible by anyone who met her. The only thing that was different was that the youngest brother had begun to act very strangely. He would shout at his mother, throw things at the walls in a rage and be very rude to everyone he met. Eventually, he became so nasty that his mother told him to leave the castle and live as a monk. It broke her heart to say goodbye to her most loved son, but she could no longer abide the horrible man her sweet boy had become. A few weeks after he left, the middle brother was also forced to leave the castle. He had been visiting an orphanage, when he started insulting the townsfolk, telling them that they were poor and miserable and that he was rich and beautiful. The people pleaded with the prince to stop but he would not. He gave money to criminals and rich landowners and said that they were the only people that deserved it. He stopped funding the orphanage and said that unwanted children should live in the streets. The townspeople turned on the prince after only a few days and forced him out of the town, tying him to a horse and whipping it out of the gates.
The King and Queen were distraught. Two of their beloved sons gone. But at least they had their eldest, they said. The bravest and strongest of the three. But in the weeks that followed her second brother’s exile, the princess also began to notice changes in him. He grew tired and his eyes became desperate. His once broad arms became small and skinny and instead of hunting and riding like he used to, he would only visit a house in town and stay there for days doing nothing. Eventually he never came back to the castle and renounced his title as prince. And so then there was only the princess left. She started to perform her duties as the king and queen’s only child and soon the town saw how wonderful she was. Left with no choice she became strong and brave, as well as sweet, charitable and kind. The King and Queen admitted their love for her and the princess lived very happily.
One day however, she was out riding in the forest when she got separated from her troup. And there, in a tree above her she saw a large and lazy Feinhound.
“Oh my!” she cried, “This cannot be the same beast that agreed to help me all those months ago. Is this what you have been doing instead of fulfilling your promise? Sitting in sunlight and filling your belly? Without your help I was forced to work twice as hard to win the love I desired.” At this the Feinhound grew angry.
“YOU had to work hard?” he said, “I’ll admit that your youngest brother was easy to frighten and become. A few choice words at your mother and he was quickly gone. The middle sibling was tougher but I still bent him to my will. I took his shape and insulted the town and they sent me over the hill. The eldest brother was the hardest, for he was strong and brave. So I became a beauty and made him my love sick slave. I weakened him until he nearly died by refusing his desires to leave my pretty side, after that the way was clear. I hear no thanks but you’re still welcome dear.”
“And where are they now you demon beast?” The princess cried and spat.
“They were just here, we had a feast, why do you think I’m fat?”
When he had finished the story, Ortan looked up and around the main room of the Fox & Octopus Inn and caught Liny’s eye, he held up a finger and she brought over a freshly filled flagon of beer.
“Is he boring you with stories?” She asked Lilian and Kilde as she put down the heavy mug. Lilian was still in the world of the princess and the Feinhound and so had to snap herself back to attention.
“What? Oh… no. We were just hearing about the princess and the Feinhound.” Said Lilian.
“Aaaah that’s a good one.” Replied Liny, “Not as good as the Duke and the duck though.” At the mention of this story Ortan scoffed.
“Aah that’s for little children. There’s no danger, no moral.”
“And what’s the moral of the Princess and the Feinhound then?” Liny snapped. Ortan looked a little stumped,
“Hmm, don’t hurt your family.” Kilde disagreed,
“No it’s be thankful with what you have.” He turned to Lilian to get her opinion, Lilian sensed that they were all waiting for her to offer an interpretation. She thought for a second and said,
“Never trust a promise.” There was a short pause where they all thought about this for a second. Finally, Liny turned to go saying,
“Ooh, that’s a little dark. You don’t get that from the Duke and the duck.” As she walked towards the bar Lilian noticed her parents getting up from their table and motioning her to join them for the journey home. Kilde was also standing up,
“Thank you Ortan, that was a good story, I hadn’t heard that one before.” He finished his drink and walked over to his Mother who had been sitting with Lilian’s parents. Lilian looked back at Ortan.
“Yes, thank you.” She said. Ortan shrugged and sipped his new drink.
“Like I said, it doesn’t really say what the Feinhound looks like. But I think it’s just supposed to be a magical animal.” Lilian got up to leave when Ortan spoke again.
“I think the main message is probably, be careful of creatures you meet in the woods.”
The following morning Lilian got up early. As she had suspected, her arms and legs ached from the training she had undergone the day before. She managed to haul her body out of bed, into some comfortable clothes and out of the house just as the sun was cresting over the valley. When she reached the town centre she turned back to look at the view. She was rarely up this early and marvelled once again at the ever changing beauty of the landscape. The light was dusting the tree tops down in the valley and behind her the mountain shone like a beacon. The sky was clear and blue and it looked as though it was going to be a beautiful day. As they had agreed the day before, Lilian went straight to the Thoreson house and met Mr Attorcop outside on the steps. She was relieved to see him standing there as before going to bed she had worried whether or not their strange friend might have showed up in the night. Attorcop looked happy. For a man who rarely smiled this was a welcome change. He had an extra spring in his step as they approached the mountain path,
“I think you’ll be quite impressed with what I’ve cooked up. If it works, we should have ourselves an assassin by lunchtime.” He started to jog lightly, Lilian ran to keep up. She noticed that the jogging had started earlier today, meaning that she’d be even more tired by the time they reached the shelf, if that was indeed, where they were going. During the run up the sloping path Lilian decided it was time to get to the bottom of the Feinhound mystery.
“Mr Attorcop?” She said between breaths.
“Miss Lausanne?” replied Attorcop.
“Last night Ortan the trapper, told me and my friend a story about a Feinhound?” Lilian was watching her steps as she spoke as the path was beginning to get more rocky.
“Oh yes? Which one?” Attorcop was looking out over the valley, admiring the view.”
“The one about the princess and her three brothers.”
“Oh I like that one.” Said Mr Attorcop, “did he do the rhyme at the end? Some people don’t do the rhyme but honestly without it, what’s the point?” Lilian tried to get him back on topic.
“He did do the rhyme, but, you know what the story doesn’t say? It doesn’t say anything about what a Feinhound looks like… And I was wondering.” Lilian was having trouble speaking between breaths now. Her aching body was screaming at her to stop, but Attorcop’s relentless pace continued. “I was wondering if you knew what a Feinhound looked like?” Attorcop thought for a second. When he spoke, Lilian almost got irritated at how easily his words came, he was not out of breath at all!
“Are you asking because of those hairs you gave me the other day? I should tell you that, I only said they belonged to a Feinhound because that was the most logical explanation. I’ve never actually seen one. No one has.” At these words Lilian faltered and almost tripped up on a loose rock. Her already heavy bones became further leadened with sadness. How would she break the news to Kilde? She thought. Poor Kilde. Hang on, Kilde! The idea rushed into her head so fast it burst straight past her throat and out of her mouth,
“My friend Kilde has seen one! He saw the one who’s fur we found. He said it looked like a big dog but also a cat.”
“Probably a leopard.” Said Mr Attorcop.
“That’s what I said! But he got angry when I did and insisted I was wrong. I mean, we found the fur so it was definitely something strange, right?”
Mr Attorcop thought for a second. By now they had reached the path marker that signalled their break away point for the stony shelf, but before heading down the mountain side Attorcop turned and said,
“As the story suggests, the Feinhound is a magical creature that can take many forms. That’s why people use it as a sort of ‘catch-all’ for anything they can’t explain. The fur you brought me was indeed strange but I’ve worked with hyper reflective materials in the past and for them to appear in the natural world is not uncommon. Inside oyster shells for example. I offhandedly said ‘Feinhound’ because I didn’t know what it was, when I find out that it’s from a large moth I’ll take the necessary steps to classify it. Your friend might have seen something he didn’t understand but to assume it’s unnatural or mythical in nature is, well, childish. There are many creatures in these woods Miss Lausanne, most are content to mind their own business but some are currently drawing plans against us. Which brings me to why we are here today!”
On this Attorcop seemed to close the matter. The finality of his tone and the swift motion of his turn towards the secret path suggested that he no longer wished to chat about ‘childish’ things, as he called them. Lilian resented him for calling Kilde ‘childish’ but even she had to admit that Kilde enjoyed embellishing stories. As the stepped off the stone step path and into the trees to find the animal track, Lilian remembered the time she and Kilde had caught a salamander in the river. She heard him tell 10 different people that story and every time he told it the salamander seemed to grow larger and more ferocious until by the end Kilde was practically having to slay it like a dragon.
Once they reached the circular shelf Attorcop strode into the middle, turned and held out his arms.
“Notice anything different?” He said to Lilian and she stepped onto the layer of rocks and rubble. Lilian squinted in the morning sun, she looked up to see a big bird float across the blue sky, she turned to look back at the trees she even looked down at her feet, everything seemed much the same as the day before, with the exception of the lack of fog.
“No.” Said Lilian, still a little annoyed at the non-existence of the Feinhound.
“Excellent!” Attorcop clapped his hands together in delight, “Then we should be alright. Come, have a look at this, this is an important lesson.” Lilian noticed how Attorcop seemed to be enjoying his new role as ‘teacher’, it reminded her that he probably didn’t have many opportunities to share his knowledge with anyone. As he lead her over to the very edge of the stoney circle, she felt a little sorry for him. It must be a lonely life, she thought. Attorcop beckoned her to crouch down as he pointed to a flat rock on the edge of the circle,
“Look under there,” He said, almost giggling in delight. Lilian did as requested and knelt down to have a look under the rock. She noticed a line of chalk drawn on the stones underneath it. The line seemed to continue round the edge of the circle.
“Took me ages to lift up all the stones around the outside so that the line underneath isn’t broken. It goes all the way around see.” Attorcop moved a little way around the circle and lifted another rock to expose the chalk line underneath it. Lilian wondered why he’d gone to all the trouble.
“The chalk line,” Explained Attorcop, “Is best hidden so as to not alert suspicion. I learned this from a witch in the Swamm marshes. It’s called a protection circle. The brilliance of it is, that anyone can enter the circle as long as they’re not trying to hurt anyone already inside it.”
“What happens if they are trying to hurt whoever’s inside it?” Asked Lilian, intrigued by this new kind of magic.
“Well, that’s what I’m hoping to find out today.” Replied Attorcop.
“You mean you’ve never tried it!?” Lilian almost shouted at him, how could he be so reckless with their safety when they’ve already been attacked once?
“My apologies miss Lausanne, please explain your better plan to me so that I might assist you.” Lilian felt her face go red. She didn’t appreciate the sarcasm but she admitted to herself that Attorcop probably knew more about this than she did.
“You can take a breath Miss Lausanne. I’ve made the deal so everything should be fine.”
Lilian didn’t understand.
“What deal?” She asked. Attorcop beckoned her forward to the centre of the circle and motioned her to put her hands up in a guard position. She realised that they were starting training so she obediently put her hands up to guard against any slaps or punches that were about to come her way. As Attorcop slowly began sparring, lightly aiming various attacks and observing Lilian as she blocked and deflected them, he began to talk.
“There exist many preternatural and scientific arts in this world Miss Lausanne. I’ve shown you some of the uses that can be made of Lunar Essence, the power of essence is derived from the natural world. It’s a sort of accelerated access to the power of nature.”
Lilian batted away a particularly fast punch that was coming for her left cheek,
“Does that mean,” She spoke mid block, “that some people can use the power of essence but without the actual essence?”
“Very astute Miss Lausanne,” Replied Attorcop, crouching low to deliver a blow to Lilian’s stomach, “There are indeed people who can do that, I myself am one of them. The reason I prefer to use essence however is that it is much quicker and more powerful. The cost being that finding and storing essence is very difficult.” Lilian ducked under a high kick and attempted to retaliate with an uppercut to Attorcop’s chin, this was deftly caught and sent sailing past him.
“So everytime you use magic, there’s a cost?” She asked, collecting herself for another round.
“Exactly right. Although, I would say that this is true of everything, wouldn’t you?” Lilian didn’t have time to think about the philosophy behind this statement as she was busy avoiding a flurry of blows from Attorcop’s left side.
“But I suppose,” He continued, barely noticing the exchange, “This is especially true of… magic.” Lilian registered a pause before Attorcop said the word ‘magic’. She almost thought she saw him roll his eyes.
“I don’t like that word.” He said.
“Why not?” Asked Lilian.
“Magic is what you use to impress children and idiots. Magic involves waving your arms around to distract people from what you’re doing with your hands. The word offers no gravity to the powers we deal with. The power to bend and shape the physical world to our needs, it requires a better word. Art is good, for it does require creativity and practise. But it’s still not quite right.” Lilian sensed that Attorcop was going off on another path, so she changed her stance to attack and brought him back to the conversation at hand.
“What was that about a deal?”
“Ah yes,” He said, easily deflecting all of Lilian’s punches. “The power of the protection circle doesn’t just come from the chalk, it has to be sealed with a deal. That’s where the cost of this particular power comes into play.”
“Who do you make the deal with?” Asked Lilian.
“A demon.” At this Lilian faltered and received a sharp jab in the shoulder as punishment for dropping her guard. She ignored the pain as she repeated what she’d just thought she’d heard.
“A demon??”
“Well yes. We’re dealing with witchcraft Miss Lausanne, where did you think witches got their power from? Their superior herbal remedies?” Attorcop was not letting up, he motioned Lilian to put her guard up again and changed up his attacks to ones she hadn’t seen before. A few got through but Lilian quickly learned their counters as she contemplated the existence of demons. Attorcop continued his explanation.
“Witchcraft was developed as a means to protect women from persecution. It’s a noble and ancient art. Thousands of years ago groups of women realised that they could appeal to the charitable nature of certain demons, a race familiar with persecution, and make deals with them in return for power. I happen to have been given the means to contact one of these demons and occasionally will negotiate a deal with her in exchange for power.”
Lilian was still stunned, she was letting more attacks get through her guard because her brain couldn’t handle this new and quite frankly, terrifying information.
“What was the deal? What did you give the demon so that you could make this.” She briefly gestured to the stone circle around her, which she now realised must be some kind of paranormal trap. When she asked the question though, Attorcop paused. Lilian considered trying to punch him in the face but his expression of genuine concern gave her pause.
“That’s the trouble with this one.” He said. “She made me promise to give her something, but she didn’t specify what that thing was or when it would be taken. It’s a little worrying but I’m trying not to think about it.” Lilian’s eyes opened wide,
“You said you’ve made deals like this before though. What do demons usually want?” Attorcop snapped his attention back to her.
“Oh anything really. That’s the problem with dealing with beings that are thousands of years old, they’ve all gone a bit mad. Could be that they want all your fingernail clippings for a year, could be they just want money, not because they use it, but because they think it’s funny for you not to have any. They don’t have any needs so they just ask for things that they think will be fun. I think I caught this one off guard so she just said she’ll take something at some point, no doubt to amuse some whim she feels in the future.”
“Aren’t you scared?” Asked Lilian, remembering Ortan’s story and the fate of the poor Princess.
“Oh not really. Think about it. People lose things all the time. I myself once lost an entire collection of antique salt shakers just because I forgot the box in a carriage. The only difference here is that I know I’m going to lose something, I just don’t know what.”
At that moment an almost imperceptible movement caught Lilian’s eye. It came from the trees behind Attorcop. She craned her neck to see if she could look at what caused the leaves to rustle slightly, but Attorcop realised what she was doing.
“Don’t look.” He dropped his voice down to a whisper. “Just look at me and pretend to keep training.” He made a show of putting his fists up in front of him and jabbing at Lilian, who deflected them by second nature now. To her surprise, although Attorcop knew they were being watched he continued to calmly teach Lilian the basics of self defense.
“Excellent form there Miss Lausanne. Notice the difference of power when you have your feet planted firmly on the ground, that way the punch comes all the way from the ground before connecting with the chins of your enemies. Now the true experts would be able to deflect attacks like these with their eyes closed, such is the power of experience. See now for yourself how difficult it is, that’s it, close your eyes.” Lilian looked at Mr Attorcop, distressed and confused. Was he really expecting her to close her eyes?
“That’s it!” he repeated, loudly. “Close your eyes and deflect my attacks, no peeking now!” his raised eyebrows and tilted head on the word peaking, suggested to Lilian that she should make a show of closing her eyes. As she shut them slowly, just enough so that any observer would think her sight impeded, she began to find the whole situation quite funny. Here she was, pretending to close her eyes whilst on top of a mountain whilst being stalked by a killer and trained by a mad man who made deals with demons like anyone else might buy fish in a market. She suppressed a giggle as that would have given the game away entirely and the whole venture would be a waste. Admittedly it was still hard to deflect the soft slaps and jabs that Attorcop was sending her way, but then again, this was probably a good thing as it helped maintain the illusion. Still, she was sure Attorcop had made her do this just to annoy her. Then, like an alligator emerging from the depths, Lilian saw a hooded figure appear from behind a tree trunk. As soon as she spotted them they began to run. They had chosen their moment to strike and Lilian was witnessing the attack in real time. They had a small distance to cover from the trees to the stone shelf but they did so at lightning speed. Through her eyelashes Lilian could see their blade in their hand, reflecting the light of the sun. She held her breath to see what would happen when they crossed the chalk threshold. They crossed it at maximum speed and Lilian almost gasped in shock as they first put one foot, then the other over the outer rim of stones. Had the contract not worked, she thought. Lilian presumed all was lost, the demon had lied to Attorcop, she was about to call out when something strange began to happen. The birds of prey above them were still circling and spying, the insects were still buzzing about their day, even Mr Attorcop was moving and behaving normally, but the strange, hooded figure began to slow down. Lilian watched as their limbs started to drag as if they had been plunged into a pit of mud and were being told to sprint their way out. Each footstep suspended the stranger in the air for longer and longer and as the knife sprang forward to attack the back of Attorcop’s neck it moved so slowly that Attorcop had time to calmly turn around to face his attacker. Lilian’s eyes were well and truly open by now and she gazed in amazement as the knife slowed more and more until it finally stopped, a hair’s breadth from Attorcop’s exposed throat.
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.”
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.
Benlunar - Episode 3
The lights come back and and we meet an old friend and a new enemy.
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
There was a scream from the other side of the room followed swiftly by the sound of a plate crashing on the floor. Lilian barely had time to register what direction the sounds had come from when light returned to the Fox & Octopus Inn. It was so sudden that Lilian had to wonder if she hadn't just had her eyes closed for a few seconds without knowing it. As she adjusted to the brightness, she noticed that the space in front of her was empty, she jerked her head around but Mr Attorcop was nowhere to be seen. Lilian stood up and made for the door, walking past a very cross looking Liny who was picking up shards of broken plate and muttering something under her breath about getting the fireplace seen to.
The door creaked open and Lilian was met by the bright spring sunshine and a very smug looking Mr Attorcop.
"you see?" He said, "the darkness can be a powerful ally, particularly when it appears unexpectedly."
"How did you…" Lilian was still confused.
"look," Mr Attorcop motioned her closer and knelt down. He brought out 2 bottles of lunar essence and held them up side by side.
"what am I looking at?" enquired Lilian.
"the one on the left, see?" She leant forward, the light from the bottles was almost too bright to be this close to, despite having to squint she looked at the liquid in the left bottle. She noticed that when compared to the level of liquid in the right bottle it was ever so slightly depleted. She had to look hard as it was perhaps slightly more than the width of her fingernail, but once she'd seen it, the difference in levels was unmistakable.
"it gets used up?" she said, slightly surprised.
"Alas yes," he replied, tucking the vials into his sleeve, "power never comes without a price."
Lilian's head was spinning. This time yesterday the strangest thing to have ever happened to her was the time she found a rock that looked like brother Thomas. And now she was learning about… What was this? Magic? She looked at Mr Attorcop but didn't want to sound babyish.
"is this…" she started, "witchcraft?"
Attorcop shook his head. "Goodness no. Witchcraft involves a lot more chanting. No this is, well," He paused for a moment, they had started walking towards the Stave Church, Lillian spotted brother Thomas and Brother Ulnar chatting with some out-of-towners on the Church Steps. "I suppose it's a combination of many things. The vials are my own design and took many weeks of scientific research in their creation , the essence is a product of the natural world and its use requires meticulous lessons in thought control. I've never thought to name the art in its entirety." Lillian was looking at the Benlunar Square and all of the people she had grown up with, all of them milling around, blissfully unaware of the wonders that were under their noses. She smiled, "I shall name it. I'm good at coming up with names."
Attorcop stopped and looked down at her, "does this mean you're accepting my offer?"
Lillian realised suddenly that she had been caught. Like a clueless fly in a web of wonder, she knew she couldn't stop now. She had to know more and she had to learn it all, every last mystical puzzle her brain could find she would consume and conquer. She knew this. And Cromwell Attorcop knew this too. He had baited the trap beautifully, with such subtle skill that Lilian had barely noticed herself wondering in to it. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of showing him that his plan had worked, that he had acquired his diligent assistant. So she just shrugged. "Yeah maybe…" she said, "I'll speak to my parents and let you know." Attorcop smiled.
"Well that's good to know because here they are." Lilian glanced up and saw her Mum and Dad emerge from behind a small group on the other side of the square. She had a very brief thought that Attorcop might have planned this as well but quickly ignored it, she bumped into people she knew all the time around town. This was just another coincidence. Right? "Hello you two!" Lilian's Mother was waving energetically as she made her way over.
"How's Frieda?" Lilian spoke first, she didn't want to be bombarded by questions so she got her own in early.
"Oh fine." said her mum, brushing the question aside.
"Turns out the beam was just loose, looks bad but easy to fix." said he Lilian's Dad.
"Fancy that." Attorcop muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Lilian to hear. "My friends, I'm afraid I must depart for now. I have some business to attend to at my lodgings. I believe I'm being overcharged for jam. If you'll kindly excuse me." and with those parting words, Attorcop was swallowed up by the crowd. Lilian turned to look at her mother and almost instantaneously rolled her eyes. Her mother was not a subtle woman and her giant smile screamed, how did it go?? She leant in close and whispered loudly, "you know he's a very important man. Frieda thinks he was an advisor to the empress herself a few years ago. If that's the same Cromwell Attorcop, but you know, it's not exactly a common name." Polly Lausanne was a nervous talker. She was almost the exact opposite in this regard to her husband. Lilian's father did not ask questions. He just waited for answers. They began to walk home and as they left the square Polly's patience ran out.
"Well?? What did he say? What did you two talk about?"
"We talked about his work." Lilian replied. She decided to keep her answers vague.
"And what is that? Did he ask you anything?"
"I'm still not really sure. He's a sort of… Inventor. And he said he was getting a bit older and that he might need some help with his research."
Lilian's Mother almost fell over as she missed a step. "Well that's great news isn't it? Edward? Isn't that great?"
"Mm…" her father grunted. Suddenly, a voice from behind caught their attention."Ho there!"
Everyone spun around to see a sweaty Brother Thomas chasing after them. He stopped a few feet away on the path and caught his breath. "May I speak with Lilian, Polly, Edward?"
"Of course." said Lilian's Mum.
"is something the matter?" added her Dad.
"No no. I just wanted to ask something."
Lilian's parents looked at other quizzically.
"Fine. Lily we'll see you at home." said her Dad and they continued down the leafy path towards the river and Lilian turned to listen to what an overly exhausted Brother Thomas had to say. Perhaps he had been eating too many pies she thought as he knelt down in front of her.
"Lilian, that man who you were with in the square. How do you…" he was searching for the right words. "Do you know who he is?" Lillian nodded apprehensively. "isn't he a friend of yours?" She asked Brother Thomas, remembering Attorcop’s words in her kitchen that morning.
"We have met before yes, but I would hesitate to call him a friend. Lilian listen to me. Please be careful around him. Men like him they, they are ambitious and they rarely do anything that doesn't benefit themselves. He's connected to many dangerous people and although I'm fairly confident he wouldn't hurt you, I can't say the same for them." Lilian was shocked, how did Brother Thomas know Attorcop, why was he warning her? She was paralysed by the choice of questions, her face must have betrayed this because Brother Thomas went on."I'm sorry, I don't mean to scare you, I just want to make sure you're safe and that you know that there are other options for you. The school house needs teachers, the town needs builders and blacksmith's and grocers, farmers, traders, pie makers and you're always welcome at the Church." he stopped, he was searching his memory for jobs or hobbies or people that need help or even pets that need looking after. But looking at Lilian now he knew it was useless. She was too far gone, a spark was lit behind her keen green eyes, if only he'd got to her this morning, he thought, if only he'd said the right things last night, maybe, just maybe this poor girl would have been spared a life of corruption and violence that only men like Attorcop could bring. The spider had its prey.
The kitchen door shut with a familiar click and Lilian was met with the smell of fresh Berry tea and honied oat cakes. Her sweet tooth sang in excitement. She poured herself a mug of the red and hot water and sat down to eat. How was she still so hungry she thought? All of this talk of magic and decisions really works up an appetite. She was half way through her 3rd oat cake when she realised that her mum and dad were sat watching her from the other end of the kitchen table. Her Mother looked ready to burst with questions but her Father sat there stoically, patiently waiting for his daughter to speak.
“What?” Asked Lilian, her mouth still filled with cake and tea.
“Roux!” Her mum exclaimed, “You’ve been chatting with a man from the city, an important one at that. He told me he might be looking for help with his work, brother Thomas stops you in the street and tells us to go away and you ask US, what? What have you been doing all morning? Where did you go last night? What is going on with you?? Edward my nerves!”
Polly Lausanne was at her limit, she was equal parts worried, equal parts excited and she wished and wished that her daughter’s silent phase wasn’t coinciding with her rebellious streak. Lilian looked to her father who was smiling at his wife’s exasperation. He’d never been a talkative man and it seemed as though his daughter was inheriting his love of silence and simplicity.
“Lilian,” He spoke softly, “Your mother is worried. If we knew a little bit more about your decisions regarding your future, we might worry less. Have you agreed to work with Mr Attorcop?”
Lilian looked up, “Yes.” She said, admitting this to her parents as well as herself. Her mother breathed a sigh of relief.
“That’s good, Roux. You know he’s very wealthy and quite high up in the court of the capitol, he’ll teach you a lot I think, I think… I, I, I think this is a good thing. You’ve made the right choice, you’ll…” Her voice cracked a little. Lilian saw her mother’s eyes glisten,
“Mama?” She pleaded.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that, I know this will be good for you and you’ll make an excellent living but, well he works in the capital you know so I’m just scared you’ll leave and I won’t see you. I’m being stupid.” Edward reached across and gripped his wife’s hand. Lilian couldn’t stand the idea of making her mother cry, “Then I won’t go!” She exclaimed, spraying cake half way across the kitchen.
“Oh no!” Said both her parents almost at once, “You’re going.” Said her Dad.
“Your father’s right, this kind of opportunity doesn’t happen every day you know. And it would be very rude to turn it down. And…” Polly thought for a second, “and I knew this would happen.” Lilian looked up quizzically, “Of course I knew. You don’t like building, or farming or church work or cooking or, well, anything that Benlunar has to offer. You’re a big red goldfish and you need to get out of this little pool. Go become a scholar or a politician or I don’t know. But I know that what ever you want to do with your life, Benlunar won’t be able to give it to you. But it will always be here you know. For when the wide world becomes too much.”
By now Lilian was also crying, she scraped the chair out from under herself and ran across to hug her mother. Edward also got up to slowly walk round the table and join the two women in their embrace. The fire crackled in the corner, the home stood still amidst the trees and the streams flowed down the side of the mountain, like tears falling down a face.
That night, Benlunar slept soundly. The sky was awash with sleepy stars and even the gusting evening wind had settled into a calm breeze. The night was occasionally disturbed by the cry of a fox, or the hoot of an owl and at around 3 o’clock in the morning the steady crunch of footsteps may have been heard on the mountain path on the outskirts of town. The steps were quiet and the stranger that made them breathed a slow sigh when they finally turned a corner and saw the spire of Benlunar’s Stave Church in the distance. In the brush by the path a rat was busily sniffing out a meal, if it had cared to look to the road at that point, it would have seen the stranger stray from the path and stop a few feet into the tree line. Should the owl spying on the rat from a tree top have bothered to turn its head to look down at the stranger, it would have seen them kneel down, and busy themselves with breaking a few twigs, snapping off some grass and arranging forest flora into a strange symbol on the ground. The stranger then stands, goes back to the path and turns towards the sleepy town just as the owl swoops silently upon its prey.
The next day Lilian busied herself with tidying her room. She was gathering some silly drawings and old dolls from her childhood up in her arms, when she heard a knock at the front door. It was a small, polite knock and she knew instantly who it belonged to. She jumped down the stairs three at a time to open the door to a short blonde boy with sparkling blue eyes and smart clothes, “Kilde!!” she shouted and threw her arms around her best friend. When she let him go, he seemed shocked, “Hi Lilian. You seem well.” Lilian smiled at his cracking voice and overly polite manner. They’d known each other their entire lives and he still insists on knocking, and on the front door! No one knocks on the front door, no one even uses it! No one, except Kilde. “I’m great.” Replied Lilian, “Come on in, have you eaten? I’m starving.” Kilde giggled,
“Nothing new there then! I’m alright thanks, oh hi Mrs Lausanne.” Lilian whipped round to see her mother’s head poking out of the kitchen doorway.
“Hi Kilde! How are you?”
“I’m very well thank you Mrs Lausanne. How are you?” Lilian and her Mum shared a smile, Kilde was an exceptionally polite boy. He still called Lilian’s Mum ‘Mrs Lausanne’ even though Lilian called his Mum by her first name. And she didn’t mind, that’s what was so funny, no one knew how Kilde got to be this way. His Mum was friendly but not stuck up, she wasn’t even that polite, often speaking her mind at very inopportune moments. But for Kilde it was always, Mrs this and excuse me that.
“I’m fine thank you Kilde,” Replied Lilian’s Mum, artfully disguising her mockery.
“Lilian, I’ve got to tell you something.” Lilian turned back to listen.
“Oh?”
“Yes.” Lilian waited but Kilde was stalling. He glanced back to see if Lilian’s Mum was still listening but she had disappeared to prepare for work. Finally, he gathered his courage. “Can we, can we go to the river?”
“Sure!” Replied Lilian, “Let me just put some boots on.”
The pair walked down the stone steps to the small stream behind the house. It was a sunny day and the two walked in silence. Lilian was trying to think about whether she should tell Kilde about everything that had happened with the Padda Stone and Mr Attorcop but just as they reached the point where the stream joined the river, Kilde stopped.
“Ok so… I was down here yesterday, just throwing stones and I looked up and you see that space over there?” His hand pointed to a patch of grass on the other side of the river and a little distance down stream. The grass was growing long now that spring had arrived and Lilian could see the first few colours of flowers emerging amongst the stems. She nodded and let him continue, still unsure about what to tell him.
“Well I’m not completely sure but, well I think I saw an animal…” Lilian waited.
“What… like… a deer?” She proffered, unsure about why an animal sighting was producing such secrecy.
“No. That’s the thing, I thought that at first too. I thought, ooh look a deer, oh no wait I thought, that’s not a deer because deers have antlers, well the bucks do, and this didn’t have antlers or hooves and I think it was a bit bigger than a deer but it looked more like…”
He stopped, searching his memory for a suitable comparison. “It looked like, ok well it was kind of dark so, i dunno but it looked like a big dog but also… a cat.”
“Like… a leopard?” Asked Lilian.
“No. Because they are cats. And this wasn’t a cat.”
“But you just said it was a cat.”
“I said it looked like a cat.”
“If it looks like a cat then it probably is a cat…”
“No! Butterflies look like birds but that doesn’t mean they’re birds.”
“Yes but no one looks at butterflies and thinks ooh look a bird!”
“Shut up. I knew you wouldn’t believe me, Mum doesn’t believe me either, she says it was a wolf but remember when we were 8 and we saw that wolf, well it didn’t look like that because it was bigger and it’s eyes were like a cat’s.”
“Okay okay I’m sorry.” Lilian could see that he was getting upset. She tried to think of another question, “Were you scared?”
Kilde thought for a second, “Not really. Well I was at first but then it looked right at me and I could tell that it was just as surprised to see me and it looked scared you know, its pointy ears went flat and it backed away and then, woosh, into the trees. And then I ran home.” Lilian studied her friend, she’d known him since she was a baby, they’d been on countless adventures and knew these woods like the backs of their hands, she’d seen him tell stories she’d heard him tell lies and she knew the difference.
“What colour was it?” At this his face lit up, finally, it seemed to say, someone is asking the right questions.
“That's the thing Lily, I don’t know, well when I first saw it, it was definitely brown, like a deer but by the time it ran away I think it was… maybe orange? Like a ginger cat. But maybe sort of yellow? I’m not sure, like I say it was getting dark.”
Lilian thought for a second,
“Well, let’s go over there and have a look? Maybe we’ll find a paw print or something” Kilde’s face went pale but he smiled.
“You see, I knew you would say something like that. Whoo yeah ok, yeah… yeah ok let’s go. Wait.” Kilde glanced around fitfully, his eyes fell on a big stick, washed ashore in the last swell and dried hard by the spring sun, he picked it up and gripped it tightly. “Ok let’s go.”
The pair removed their boots and waded into the river. No matter how hot the sun ever got in Benlunar, this river was always freezing cold. The water came from the melted snow caps in from deep within the frozen mountains so Lilian breathed in sharply when she took her first step in. She navigated her way across the many smooth stones on the river bed, at its deepest the water came up past her knees but in just under a minute they had made it to the other side. The two donned their boots once more and went over to the long grass. They walked for a while longer than Lilian had expected to but once they arrived they split off and began hunting for clues. The sun was almost at its highest point and the constant stream of sound from the birds and the water made it a typical Benlunar spring day. Lilian thought back to springs of her childhood, where the town children would spend hours on these river banks hunting various things, mostly flipsies, or each other. Only now this was different, this hunt had a purpose, there would be no child screaming at finding a stone with a hole in it and claiming it to be a flipsy amulet, if anything was found now it would be real evidence, a genuine clue to real mystery and this gave the hunt purpose. Lilian found herself brushing back nettles, getting her hair caught in twigs and overturning mossy rocks but all she revealed were stings and the occasional newt. It was just after Lilian had checked under the 14th suspicious looking rock when she heard a shout from Kilde. She whipped round but couldn’t see him anywhere. The shout had come from the beyond the tree line and Lilian started running towards it, “Kilde??” She shouted but she got not reply. More urgently now she scraped past the branches of a pine tree, ripping the side of her smock in the process. Twigs creaked and cracked around her but she still couldn’t see signs of her friend. “Kilde!” She shouted again, louder now. This time, she got a reply, “here!” the shout came from over a mound and Lilian ran towards it, dead pine needles crunching under her feet as she went. As she neared the top she finally saw Kilde knelt down beside a holly bush. The red winter berries had long disappeared and the spiky leaves were starting to brown around the edges. Kilde was transfixed by a spot about waist high up off the ground, when he heard Lilian behind him he beckoned her forward, never taking his eyes off the spot as if looking away might make it disappear. Lilian approached, closer and closer. She couldn’t understand what Kilde had seen until she was right next to him. “Look”. He whispered. At first, Lilian though he was pointing at something inside the bush, but then the sunlight shifted, her eyes focused and she saw it. The smallest tuft of fur, just a few threads stuck to holly leaf. She was about to roll her eyes, she was about to stand up and say it was deer fur or fox or rabbit or anything but just then, she saw the fur shift in the breeze and with the smallest movement, the fur changed colour. Lilian blinked. It must have been a trick of the light. But the once light brown fur was now unmistakably yellow, she was about to say something but she was transfixed as the fur changed again, now orange, now green, now blue. Lilian didn’t want to breathe, afraid that the slightest exhale might blow the strands away. She reached forward with her fingers outstretched, Kilde looked at her urging with every thought that she be careful. Slowly, like a clockmaker removing a broken spring, she gripped the strands between her fingers and held them tightly. Now that the danger of them blowing away had past, she spoke, but still in a cautious whisper.
“Do you have a handkerchief?” Kilde sparked into motion, plunging his hands in to his trouser pockets he extracted a coin, some string, a rather nice looking button and then a balled up red cloth. He unfurled it and stretched it out over his knee.
“It’s clean.” he said, seeing the worried look on Lilian’s face. He brought it up to her fingers in cupped hands and watched as Lilian slowly placed the hairs in the centre of the fabric and folded it over, corner to corner and finally rolling it up lengthways, so as not to bend or break the precious strands inside. Kilde’s face was beaming, “you see?” He asked all of his suspicions confirmed. Lilian wasn’t exactly sure what she had seen and was not quite yet convinced that she was holding the fur of some mythical beast, there were, after all, many factors at play. It might be deer fur, with paint on it. Or the hairs from a fox that had eaten too many blueberries. Whatever it was, she wasn’t jumping to any conclusions.
“I think we should take it back to town.” She said finally. Kilde nodded in agreement but made no sign to offer to carry it, he didn’t want to be the one responsible for dropping it in the river. “Yes,” He agreed, “but what then?” The pair had started making their way back towards the river. As they emerged from the trees and back into the sunshine a thought occurred to Lilian. “I think we should show it to someone. Someone who knows about animals.” Kilde wracked his brain, searching for such a person.
“Ortan?” He said.
“Maybe.” Replied Lilian. Ortan lived on the other side of town, up near the mountain path. He was a tall, greying trapper who would send ferrets down rabbit holes or place traps in the summer around the livestock pens so that wolves got caught. Lilian didn’t really like Ortan. He always smelt like a barrel and he’d shouted at her once for trying to help a fox out of a trap. She could still remember the horrible sounds it had been making. Just then, as she hopped from one boulder to another she had a thought.
“I actually think I might know someone who would be better to ask.”
“Who?” replied Kilde, just as he misjudged the distance between boulders and almost fell in the river.
“He’s… a friend. He comes from the city and he’s staying in town.”
Kilde seemed hopeful. “Does he work with animals?”
“No…” Replied Lilian. “But he knows a lot about mysteries and strange things. He studies them in the city.” She didn’t turn back to catch Kilde’s reaction but he must have been satisfied.
“Well,” He said, “We can show him and if he doesn’t know then we can show Ortan. And if Ortan doesn’t know then… Well then I guess we’ll just keep asking around.” Lilian was thankful that he didn’t continue asking too many questions, she didn’t want to have to lie to her friend about what she’d seen the other night, especially after he trusted her with his story about the beast.
Throughout the entire walk in to Benlunar Lilian clutched the handkerchief close to her, a firm but gentle grip, as if she was holding a small bird, she was so focused on her task that it wasn’t until she reached the town square that she realised that she didn’t know where Cromwell Attorcop was staying. She glanced down the street towards the Fox & Octopus, might he have a room at the Inn, she thought? She looked back at the Stave Church, she could ask brother Thomas if he knew. No she thought, he might ask questions about the fur, then Kilde would tell him everything and the next thing you know you’re praying at some statue of a woman that’s supposed to love you or something. Lilian liked brother Thomas but he did tend to have predictable answers to everything. Just then a flash of colour caught her eye, among the crowd. Stood amongst a small group of well dressed men and women, there was a portly, friendly looking man in a bright orange doublet. Lilian remembered him from the other day when she first saw Mr Attorcop in Benlunar, he’d been talking to this man about rheumatism. She walked over to him across the flagstones, ignoring a nervous Kilde at her side. The group were clearly tourists, their clothes and jewels were far too nice to come from the Benlunar markets and as Lilian approached she saw from the empty bottles around scattered around the tables that they had been drinking wine. When she got close to the man in orange she stopped and waited for a lull in the conversation. A loud woman in a yellow and purple dress with a silly cloth hummingbird dangling from her hat was spilling her wine and saying, “My father was of course old enough to have still been around when they were both alive and HE said that things ran smoother then because he was the only person in the world she actually respected. And now he’s gone well… she doesn’t listen to anyone and so that’s why we’re in this mess with the young Lord what’s-his-name.” This sloshing statement was met with jeers and cheers from her little circle, Lilian however had grown tired of waiting and decided to tap on the orange man’s arm. The man startled and turned to see her. As they spoke, the rest of his group leaned in to listen as well.
“Oh er, good day miss.” Said the man.
“Hello.” Replied Lilian, suddenly nervous as to what to say. She remembered what Attorcop had told her about people stopping at nothing to attain secrets and wondered if this man could be trusted. But her doubts quickly faded when she saw the man smile widely.
“How may I be of service young lady?”
“Do you know where Mr Attorcop is staying?” At the mention of Attorcop’s name, she noticed a visible shift in the atmosphere of the group. Some members looked at each other and smiled, others looked away in contempt. The woman in yellow simply raised an eyebrow, suddenly very curious.
“Would that be Cromwell Attorcop?” Asked the man to clarify, Lilian nodded. “I believe he asked to be put up in the tower room at the Thoreson house, it’s the big blue place up the hill, you can’t miss it.” Lilian knew the house and she thanked the man, she was about to leave when the woman in yellow narrowed her eyes and spoke up again.
“How do you know Cromwell Attorcop?” She asked Lilian. Everyone stood still, awaiting her reply. Lilian didn’t know what to say, she wanted to keep her answer brief and as similar to the one she’d given Kilde as possible.
“He’s my… friend.” At this answer the group of men and woman all smiled, one man visibly stifled a laugh. Lilian felt a hot flush of embarrassment fill her face. The cloth hummingbird in the woman’s hat danced and flopped as she leant forward towards Lilian.
“Trust me sweetie. He’s not.” At this Lilian turned and walked away. The orange man had not laughed but the rest of his friends could barely stay on their seats with the idea that this young girl could be friends with Cromwell Attorcop.
Lilian still hadn’t shaken her anger by the time they’d reached the Thoreson house.
“They stupid city folk.” Kilde was muttering beside her. “And did you see, they’d been drinking Xander’s dandelion wine. That’s why they were being so rude.” Lilian rolled her eyes, Kilde’s ability to see the good in everyone was a lovely quality most of the time, but it was also frustrating, why couldn’t he call them what they were? Dirty city…
“May I help you?” Lilian looked up to see an old, wizened face staring at them from the Thoreson house door. In her frustration, Lilian hadn’t even noticed that they’d arrived and that Kilde had knocked on the door.
“Hello Mr Stepson, we have some business with Mr Attorcop and we believe that he is lodging in one of your top rooms. May we come in and speak with him?” Lilian instantly forgave Kilde, she wished she had his way with people in that moment. His effortless charm and proper manners put a smile on the old butler’s face and he bade them come in.
“Is he expecting you?” Croaked the old man.
“No I don’t think so, but he will be quite interested in what we have to say I can assure you.” The old butler lead them into to a grand entrance hall. The Thoreson’s were Benlunar’s oldest family, they owned half the land the town was built on and had lived in this house for hundreds of years. Mr Stepson was their employee and performed the duties involved in keeping such a large and impressive building up and running, including the management of renting various spare rooms to make extra money in the summer. He was known around town as a man of exquisite taste and eye for detail.
“Mr Attorcop, requested the tower room. Not our largest guest room but certainly one with a good view. I haven’t seen him leave today so I assume he’s working in there. Please be sure to knock when you get to the door, open or closed.” He showed them towards the large ornate staircase and pointed to the top of the house. “And if you would be so kind as to inform Mr Attorcop that his lunch will be with him momentarily.” And the mention of lunch Kilde almost jumped out of his skin.
“Is it midday day already??” He exclaimed. Mr Stepson was taken aback.
“Young man, midday has been and gone, Mr Attorcop broke his fast late and so requested a late lunch.” Kilde almost squealed in panic.
“I promised my mother I would be back for lunch.” He looked at Lilian apologetically.
“That’s ok.” She said, “You go. I’ll tell you what he says later.” Kilde barely muttered his thanks before sprinting out of the front door. Mr Stepson looked confused but still allowed Lilian to go up to see Mr Attorcop in his room.
When Lilian reached the top floor she was almost out of breath. She was still clutching the handkerchief but her palms had become sweaty with the exercise. The landing floor had a faded red carpet on it and various paintings of scenery or haughty rich people looked down at her from the walls. The door at the end of the hall was ajar and when Lilian approached it she saw that it opened onto another set of stairs, steep ones that spiralled round to the right. This must be the tower room she thought. Remembering Mr Stepson’s instructions she knocked loudly on the door. From somewhere above her she heard a voice reply,
“Come up.” Lilian climbed the staircase, watching her step so as not to slip and drop the handkerchief. The stairs lead her through the floor of an octagonal room with windows on most sides. There was a large and beautiful bed to one side and a writing desk at the other end. There were papers scattered across the floor, some strange looking bottles with various colours of liquid
in them. Mr Attorcop sat at the desk and didn't even look up when Lilian climbed the final step.
"One moment." he muttered, busily writing some notes on parchment. Lilian waited patiently and looked out of the large window behind the head board of the bed. She crained her head down so that she could see the mountain peak, it was slightly obscured by small clouds that stood out despite the whiteness of the snow that still clutched to the very top slopes and ridges. Attorcop finished his writing and looked up.
"Ah Lilian, good afternoon. I wasn't expecting to see you today." his brow was furrowed and Lilian wondered if he was upset with her.
"Sorry, Mr Attorcop but I wanted to ask you something." he didn't reply, he simply waited as if the next logical thing to happen would be simply that Lilian asked what she wanted to ask. And so Lilian began.
"I was down by the river this morning with my friend Kilde…" she launched into the morning's events making sure to leave no detail but also try to not waste any of his time. His expression did not change and Lilian worried that she was boring him or had she believed Kilde's childish fantasy and was in fact here to show him nothing more than a bit of badgers bum. When she reached the part of the story that had her place the hairs in the handkerchief Attorcop finally spoke up.
"Bring it here. Let me see."
She approached carefully. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Was her first act as Attorcop's assistant going to be wasting his time with nonsense? She watched as he carefully unfolded the cloth. With a surgeon's precision he held a single hair up to the light and gazed at it. His expression was hard to read. Suddenly he got up and walked over to a trunk by the bed. He rummaged around for a second and then pulled out a sort of instrument. Lilian thought it looked like a telescope, only it was smaller and green and had many different lenses attached around the outside. What ever it was, thought Lilian, it looked valuable. Attorcop brought it and the hair back to his desk and began fiddling with the various dials and lenses around the edge of the main tube all the while looking through one end and holding the hair in front of the other. Lilian leant in closer, almost holding her breath. She saw his lips move ever so slightly and thought she heard him whisper.
"fascinating…" his focus unbroken he spoke up, "Lilian, pass me a piece of parchment please. Over there, on the side board." Lilian looked over to a window and saw some clean sheets piled on top of one another on the shelf beneath it. She moved over to grab the top most sheet when she froze. Completely still transfixed at what she saw on the other side of the window. On the outside of the tower was a dark hooded figure. Lilian could clearly see the blue and red colours of their cloak and the silver fastener pinned to their chest. But what transfixed her most were the large, green eyes. The eyes. Of a stranger.
Benlunar - Episode 2
The second episode, where we learn more about magic.
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 so stunned with shock, she thought she must be dreaming. She even pinched the skin on her left leg to try and wake herself up. But of course nothing happened, unless you count the pinching sensation and the fact that she didn’t wake up. Moments ago she had seen a strange secretion seep from the moon and down the side of the mountain above her and trickling through the mouth of the great Padda Stone, Benlunar’s famous toad statue. All of this she could remember clearly, she had seen a strange man gather the liquid in small bottles and as if all of that wasn’t bizarre enough, she was now witnessing a stone toad open its eyes and look around. Although the moon was still very bright in the sky, it was the middle of the night and Lilian had to keep adjusting her eyes in the darkness. But no matter how many times she blinked or looked away, she was sure that the toad’s eyes were open and moving. It blinked several times, apparently also getting used to the dim light, and with each blink Lilian could hear the soft tap of stone on stone, like when you drop a rock on a marble floor. She found her muscles slowly waking up after being paralysed with fear, she wondered whether or not to run or to jump down and hide, but she did neither of these things. She only watched, raptured to the spot. The strange man by contrast seemed more relaxed. He was looking at the Padda Stone but he was still moving and seemingly waiting for it to do something. Eventually it looked down and saw him standing just beyond the pond where seconds before water had been flowing in from its mouth. The two locked eyes and waited. Finally the great stone toad shifted its heavy boulder body and spoke. Its voice was a deep, wet croak and although its mouth moved with the words, it seemed as though its voice was coming from somewhere deep within the mountain.
“You again.” It said to the stranger. It didn’t seem surprised, or angry it was just as if it was stating a fact. It might as well have said, ‘It’s night time’. The stranger’s voice was softer but Lilian could just about make it out.
“Me again.” He said, “I’m sure I’ve changed these past 10 years.”
“You were a young man not moments ago to me.” Replied the Padda Stone.
“Indeed. And younger still the time before that. I must have been just a lad of 15 the first time I came here.”
The great toad shifted and almost smiled. It seemed to be laughing. “Hahaha. You were so frightened. And alone. I remember when hundreds would gather to greet me when I woke.”
“I’m sorry for my secrecy. You do deserve the attention of hundreds, you are truly splendid Gorakja. But while I have my work to finish, I’m afraid I must come alone.”
Again the toad laughed. “HaHaHa.. Alone?” It said, “Are you sure Cromwell?”
Even in the darkness Lilian could see the colour drain from the man’s face. His eyes widened to the size of plates as he whipped and whirled round desperately seeking an intruder. Lilian knew that she would be spotted any second. Without waiting for that to happen she turned and ran back, back down the hill through the trees back through Benlunar, back past the Stave Church and the Fox & Octopus Inn, she was not breathing, she was not thinking she was only moving as fast and far as she could. Her body finally getting its wish of fleeing granted by her mind and moving so quickly she almost ran headlong into a couple stumbling out of a doorway. She could hear a faint ‘Watch it!’ from the man but it was already fading into the distance behind her as she ran further and faster. Finally she saw her house, she saw the comforting light in the kitchen, like a beacon guiding her home in the night. As she reached her front door, she paused for a second to catch her breath. Had that really just happened? She thought. Or was her mind playing tricks on her? She replayed the entire event over in her head, remembering every word, every detail. What was she going to tell her parents? Or… should she tell them? They definitely wouldn’t believe her. She wouldn’t even blame them for that. If Kilde, her friend from town, ran up to her right now and said that he’d seen a tree just wake up and ask him directions to the bakery or something she wouldn’t believe him for a second! She was still asking herself what to do when she opened her kitchen door and came face to face with her Mum, her Dad and Brother Thomas sat at the kitchen table.
“Lilian!” Her mother got up and almost fell down to hug her. Lilian could feel the warmth of the stove on her mother’s woollen jumper, she’d been so distracted by everything, she hadn’t realised how cold she was. Her shoes were soaked through and her smock was wet up to her knees. Her fingers began to tingle as the door closed behind her and she warmed up.
Everyone’s face in the kitchen looked worried. Her father spoke first, “where have you been??” He asked. Lilian realised she must look half crazy. She was about to answer, she even moved her lips to speak, but then she thought about all the questions she would get, the worried looks, the side glances at each other as she would be pressed more and more for information. The last thing she wanted in that moment, was all of that, so she simply said, “Out” Her father looked like he’d just been slapped by a wet fish.
“Out? Yes I know that, but where?”
“Just around town. I’m sorry I ran off, I was upset. Hello brother Thomas.”
The church brother smiled his warm smile and pulled a chair from the kitchen table.
“Your parents were worried,” He said, “But I know how strong and resourceful you are. We’ve actually just been talking about your qualities and we have a few ideas we’d like you to listen to. How does that sound?” As a wave of tiredness crashed over her, Lilian thought that sounded just awful, “I’m…” She started to speak, but she could barely find the strength to keep her eyes open. She stumbled forward and almost lost her footing.
“Look at her,” pleaded her Mother, “She can barely stand up. Roux why don’t you go to bed, I’m sure this can all wait until morning. Brother Thomas, you can come back tomorrow can’t you?”
Lilian heard him agree, but his voice seemed far away now. Her knees finally buckled and the next thing she knew she was in her father’s arms, being carried upstairs to bed, just like all those years ago when she was just a little girl. She was just a little girl.
She woke up to the sound of voices coming from downstairs. A sun beam was sneaking in through her curtains and Lilian could see tiny specs of dust dancing in it. It fell on to the foot of her bed where her feet were wrapped in blankets. She didn’t remember how she got in to bed, and she definitely didn’t remember putting her pyjamas on… She flushed with embarrassment as she realised her dad must have helped her put them on. Last night’s events came flooding back in her mind, only now they seemed even stranger, even more like a dream. Could it have all been a dream? She thought. The clinking sounds of spoons in teacups echoed up the wooden staircase and Lilian thought she’d best get up and head downstairs. She glanced around her room before opening the door. It was the room she’d always had. There were toys in the corner she hadn’t played with in years, there were pictures on the walls she’d done when she was 3 years old. Looking around, Lilian had an odd feeling, like this wasn’t her room really. It was a child’s room. After breakfast she thought she would come back and tidy a few things.
She threw on some old clothes, a green smock and some grey stockings, ran a brush through her hair, opened her door and started making her way downstairs. The voices from the kitchen grew louder with each step. She heard her mother’s voice and another man’s. It wasn’t her father’s, his was much deeper. She rolled her eyes at the realisation, “Creatures & Curses” She thought, “Doesn’t brother Thomas ever take a day off?” with that she opened the kitchen door. The smell of bread and honey hit her as she waved good morning to her Mother.
“Ah there she is! Good morning! Would you like some warm milk and honey with your breakfast?” Lilian nodded, rubbing her eyes and yawning as she did. She noticed a figure with their back to her sat at the kitchen table.
“Ah yes,” Said her mother, “I don’t think you two have met yet. Lilian this is Mr Attorcop, oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your first name…”
Lilian’s eyes came in to focus just in time to see a cloak, black as the night’s sky shift and turn towards her. “Cromwell, my lady, and you must be Lilian. Your mother has been telling me all about you.”
Lilian froze to the spot. She was about to shout out or run away, but this man, this Mr Attorcop was fixing her with such an intense stare she dared not move. His small dark eyes seemed to be willing her to play along, he was acting as if he’d never seen her before and his eyes were suggesting she do the same. They stared each other down like dueling knights while Lilian’s mother pottered around the kitchen.
“Now where did I put that lavender honey? There’s fields of lavender down in the valley in the spring you know, if you find a beehive near there you get this incredibly fragrant honey, I have a jar somewhere for special occasions.”
“I do not wish to impose. Plain forest honey will suit my needs just as well.” Mr Attorcop spoke without blinking or breaking eye contact with Lilian. He jerked his head slightly towards the empty chair next to him, motioning Lilian to sit down. His regal clothes and perfect posture seemed very out of place here amongst the kitchen bric a brac and their family’s teapot collection. Lilian slowly went to sit down, she looked around for the man’s bag the one he had night before, the one in which he had placed the eighteen bottles of that strange silver water, but she couldn’t see it anywhere.
“There you go my love.” Lilian’s Mother placed a cup of warm milk in front of her, and started slicing a loaf of bread, “Mr Attorcop knows brother Thomas, isn’t that right?”
“Ah yes, I’ve known him for many years. I saw him this morning in fact and he suggested I come here to meet you all.” Lilian’s Mother was still rushing around the kitchen, it looked like she was getting ready to leave.
“Yes and we’re hoping Lily that you’ll listen to what he has to say. Now I have to rush off, there’s a broken beam at Frieda’s place, your father is already there so I’m going to go and meet him. Mr Attorcop, please help yourself to anything you wish, there’s plenty of bread left. Roux” She knelt down beside Lilian, “Please just listen and we’ll talk later ok?”
“But, Mama..” Lilian wanted to stop her going, she wanted to tell her everything but her mother was already standing and making to leave, “No buts my love, you don’t have to decide anything today but just, well, keep an open mind that’s all. Goodbye you two, see you later.” And with that she was gone, out of the kitchen door in a flash of red hair, leaving Lilian with this stranger, which, Lilian thought to be slightly irresponsible. Was he really a friend of Brother Thomas? How could anyone be sure? The two sat there in silence whilst this strange man, this Mr Attorcop, ate some bread and drank some milk. He seemed very relaxed, but then again why wouldn’t he be, thought Lilian, he was enjoying a free breakfast in a warm kitchen and it’s not like Lilian could be any threat to him. She just stared. She wanted to ask questions but she couldn’t put her finger on which one. She thought she would start with, “what in the fiery depths are you doing in my house?” when he spoke first.
“Wouldn’t you like to know what he said?” He raised his grey eyebrows inquisitively and calmly wiped crumbs away from his beard. Lilian knew who he meant of course.
“I heard him.” she whispered.
“Yes but you ran away, we had a long and pleasant conversation after you left. Not many people get the chance to speak with such a being. It’s unfortunate that your fear bested your curiosity.”
For a brief moment Lilian felt a pang of regret. In the light of day it seemed silly to have run away. An idea popped into her head and she was about to suggest something when the man interrupted her thought again,
“Ah no I’m afraid you can’t go back tonight. The conditions for him to awake are very specific, I haven’t done the exact calculations, but I wager the next night won’t be for at least 5 or 6 years.” Lilian dropped her head in disappointment. At least it hadn’t all been a dream she thought. “Now your mother and father,” continued Mr Attorcop “they weren’t asking me any questions about any giant talking toads so can I assume that you haven’t told anyone what you saw last night?”
“They would think I was crazy.” Shrugged Lilian.
“Indeed they might. However, there are people in this world, perhaps even in this town who not only might believe you but may try and learn all they can, to the extent that your own safety and health would not stand in their way.”
Lilian sat up. Fear began feeling its way back into her stomach. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“Well, let’s say you told someone about last night, and they told someone else and that person wanted to know more, who would they ask?”
“Me” replied Lilian.
“Exactly. So then let’s say you tell them everything you saw and everything you know, only they either didn’t believe you or wanted to make absolutely sure you were telling the truth. Most people would simply give you money or something you wanted. Some people might not be so kind.”
Lilian understood. What ever she was mixed up in here, there was clearly a lot at stake, or else this man, this, Mr Attorcop, wouldn’t be telling her all this. He didn’t seem to be threatening her in any way, simply warning her. His manner was confusing. Most people smiled and span their words in such a way that made her feel like she was being talked down to. This man wasn’t treating her like a child, he seemed to be simply telling the truth. Lilian wanted to tell him that she wasn’t scared, that she was the bravest girl in her class and that only 2 nights ago she’d done something no one else would even dare to do. But now didn’t seem like the right time. Suddenly, Lilian’s courage returned and with it, her curiosity.
“What was that stuff? The silvery water stuff that came down the mountain. It looked like…” She almost didn’t want to say it for seeming silly. “It looked like it came from the moon.” A smile appeared on Mr Attorcop’s face. It was as if some suspicion had just been confirmed. “You don’t seem worried about what I’ve just told you Lilian.”
“Why should I be worried? I’m not going to tell anyone so no one will want to know more. And if you were going to hurt me you’d probably have done it by now. So…” Mr Attorcop said nothing, he just stared incredulously at this brave, redheaded child. “How old are you?” He asked finally.
“I shall be 13 in 3 weeks. I’m not a kid you know. Now stop changing the subject.You’ve already threatened me by saying that people might want to hurt me in order to find out more about last night, but I’m not so thick as to not realise that’s just you wanting to keep it a secret. If someone asked me about last night they’d quickly realise I was there by accident, I wasn’t even wearing a coat. YOU were there on purpose which means you knew it was going to happen. So all I’d have to say to anyone who was asking is: You know that Mr Attorcop, bearded bloke with a bald head? Yeah that’s the one. I’d ask him If I were you, he’s the one with 18 bottles of moon juice in his pockets.”
This outburst left Mr Attorcop stunned. In the 3 seconds following its end he decided two things, one was that he had underestimated this girl’s intelligence and 2 that was never going to happen again.
“Fine.” He said, breathing out and relaxing. His original plan of ensuring her silence and leaving had failed, but his powerful, calculative mind was quickly formulating a new plan.
“Last night you witnessed a rare awakening of an ancient and preternatural being yet you’ve astutely made the connection that that would not have been possible without the appearance of the, what was it you called it? Moon juice? While I do enjoy that name, it’s not strictly accurate. I refer to it as essence.”
Lillian cocked her head in confusion. “What does it do?” She asked. Mr Attorcop seemed reluctant to answer this straight away.
“You know. Your parents are under the impression I’m here because I’m looking for someone to help me with my work. One conversation with Brother Thomas this morning and I was able to not only find out who you were and where you lived, but that your parents are desperate for you to find some sort of meaningful occupation. While originally I only used this as an excuse to speak with you, I have recently been feeling the effects of my age and could use some assistance in my endeavours. I don’t just divulge the secrets of my craft to anyone you know? But if you do wish to work with me then I would be more inclined to give you the answers you seek.”
Lillian had trouble keeping up with the way Mr Attorcop spoke. It was like he was saying something very simple, but in the most complicated way he could find. She guessed from context that he was asking if she wanted to work with him.
“Tell me what that stuff is and what it does, and then I’ll tell you if I want to work with you.”
Smiling and seeming sure of himself, Mr Attorcop stood up.
“Let’s walk, I always find my mind is clearer when on the move.”
The two walked through Benlunar in silence for some time. Lilian had many more questions to ask, but she didn’t want to pressure him. She guessed she was lucky to get this far. The pair were walking down a wide cobbled lane, past the blacksmith when Mr Attorcop stopped. He was looking into the smith’s yard, watching Jacob and his son Varne working together by the fire. Lilian followed his gaze to see the two smiths, hammers in hands striking a hot bar again and again. With each blow from the hammer, sparks would fly off the anvil. Everyone in town knew that Jacob was a genius when it came to working metal and it seemed as though his son was learning very quickly.
“You see these two.” Mr Attorcop finally spoke. “They use the various tools available to them. The hammer, the anvil and the fire. With these they can produce beautiful, useful or even dangerous things yes?” Lilian nodded, understanding so far. “But in your hands, or mine, that hammer wouldn’t do much good would it?” Lilian shook her head. She remembered dropping her father’s hammer on her foot once. It hurt a lot, and certainly didn’t produce anything beautiful apart from a large bruise. Mr Attorcop continued. “However, the hammer alone in the hands of even the most skilled blacksmith also would do no good, for the smith needs the fire and the anvil to use his skills effectively. Correct?” Lilian nodded once more as they turned to leave. When they were out of sight of the smiths and indeed anyone else, Mr Attorcop reached into his cloak and pulled out one of the bottles from last night. Even in the middle of the day, the liquid inside it shone brightly and illuminated his hand and face. He held it in front of Lilian and spoke, “This is the hammer, the fire and the anvil all at once. It is a powerful substance that needs great skill when being handled, or else the smith in question…” He was cut off by a loud yelp from behind them. Varne’s hand must have slipped and been hit in place of the metal. Attorcop smiled, his point having been made. He whipped the small bottle away from Lilian’s outstretched hand and hid it once again in his cloak. The two continued through the town. After some time Lilian spoke up. “I think I understand. But…” She couldn’t put her finger on what she wanted to ask, “But if the blacksmith is using tools to make a sword say. What do you use the essence for?” By now they had reached the square and were making their way towards the Fox & Octopus, Benlunar’s famous Inn run by Xander and Liny. Lilian realised then that in all the excitement she hadn’t eaten breakfast, most unlike her, and was secretly hoping Mr Attorcop might buy her some rye bread and jam. Whilst Lilian’s question was being mulled over in his head, Mr Attorcop opened the door to the Inn and motioned her inside. He didn’t like discussing these things in broad daylight. You never knew who was lurking round a corner. The Inn was a large, soft room that smelt of last night’s stale ale. Xander and Liny were busy cleaning the tables and surfaces as well as removing a fancy looking hat from the antler’s of a stuffed deer’s head behind the bar. Xander motioned for them to take a seat, which they gladly did to get out of the way.
“There are many answers to that question.” Said Mr Attorcop once they had been brought some fresh pressed juice and warm bread. “Just as there are many things that can be made by a talented blacksmith, indeed the more talented the smith the more possibilities there are. But if we move away from metaphors for a moment I suppose it all boils down to just one thing. Power.” Mr Attorcop’s eyes flashed wide at this last word. Lilian felt like she was supposed to be impressed but she still didn’t really understand. Her face must have said as much because Attorcop continued: “One gains power when one has the advantage yes?”
“Like in 4 ladies” Lillian often played that particular card game with her class mates. Her father had taught her some special moves that meant she would almost always win. “You can be a great player, but if someone else starts the game with more than 2 ladies then it’s almost impossible to win.”
“Exactly,” said Attorcop, “So what the essence does is it gives you a strong advantage because it’s all there. In the bottle.” He was getting excited talking about this, Lillian got the impression he didn’t really get many chances to do so, “What’s there?” She asked, almost frantically now, “What is it? What’s in the bottles?”
“Night!” Mr Attorcop almost shouted the word but caught himself at the last minute. There was a pause. Behind the bar Xander had started whistling, somewhere in the distance Liny dropped a glass and a rude word tumbled from her mouth. Birds sang in the trees outside, the clouds parted, the sun shone, and Lillian raised a single eyebrow.
“Night.” She repeated, hoping that Attorcop would explain himself.
“Indeed. Tell me. What do you remember about yesterday evening. What did you see, what did you feel?”
“Well, it was dark.” Mr Attorcop raised a single finger, counting the first thing in Lillian’s list.
“Yes yes, what else?”
“It was dark, but I could still see, because of the moon. The moon was… really big” A second finger went up, “Good. Go on.” Lillian thought for a second.
“I dunno… It was cold.” A third finger. Lillian was quickly running out of things to say, but listing these things was triggering memories of the event.
“I remember listening to the water trickling down the streams and into the ponds. There were animals moving and making noise. The stars were beautiful and the moon looked like it was touching the mountain. I remember the breeze rustling the reeds and how anytime I wanted to focus on anything, I had to look really hard, and then keep looking because the darkness kind of obscured it.” Attorcop’s fingers were almost all up now and he was smiling his enigmatic smile. He slowly began to reach into a hidden fold in his cloak.
“So all these things you’ve just listed, they all make up the night, correct?” Lillian nodded, “So night isn’t just one thing. It’s not just a time in the day, it’s not just the absence of the sun and the presence of the moon. It’s a huge series of sights, sounds and sensations.” The bright bottle appeared in his hand once again. In this dark corner of the inn, the light was almost blinding. Attorcop’s face and beard were bathed in it. Lillian sat amazed. It wasn’t like anything she’d ever seen. It was light, there was no mistaking it, but it wasn’t the warm light of a flame, or the bright, blinding light of the sun, it was as if Attorcop was stood in a moonbeam in the middle of the day. At this distance, Lillian could see the bottle more closely too. It was clear cut crystal, with an iron stopper in the shape of a crescent moon. Even without the silver liquid inside it would have been a beautiful thing. Again she found her hand reaching out towards it. As she did so, Attorcop spoke:
“There exist arts in this world that allow folk to channel elements of nature through their bodies and produce wonderous and even dangerous things. If someone was to channel the aspects of night, it would stand to reason that it would have to be night time. However, with this essence, one could channel the night at any time, even in the midday sun of the hottest desert. And thus the possessor would have the advantage. The carrier of lunar essence in the day has power.” Lillian’s fingertips were almost touching the glass, but when they were just a hair’s breadth away Attorcop closed his fingers tightly around the bottle and the Inn was plunged into darkness.
Benlunar - Episode 1
The first episode of Benlunar! Meet Lilian Lausanne and explore Benlunar in this brand new audio adventure!
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 Lausanne woke up in a foul mood. Her parents had sent her to bed the night before without any supper and she had only managed to sleep for 9 hours. Her hungry stomach growled at her and so she went downstairs to feed it. She was dreading seeing her Mum and Dad, who were probably still cross with her, but they were nowhere to be seen. In their place she found a note on the kitchen table with her Mother’s handwriting on it. She picked it up and read it whilst sloppily buttering some bread: Dear Roux, It said, We’ve gone to the Stave to get everything ready. Please tidy your room and the kitchen before we get back for lunch, we don’t know where the visitors will stay yet so we need to be prepared. Thank you, P.S. Don’t think we’re done talking about yesterday. As Lilian read the note she could hear her mother’s voice in her head. She only called her Roux when she was trying to be nice, “Roux red Roux she said, “Red like the tangled hair on your head”. Her Mum clearly felt guilty about shouting last night, but not so guilty as to not put that little reminder at the end.
Lilian sighed and casually wiped jam off her cheek. Looking around, the old cramped kitchen was in dire need of a scrub. The butter and crumbs from breakfast were falling on to the floor where signs of last night’s shouting match could still be seen. There was a large green splat on the wall where Lilian had thrown her bowl of broth. There were shards of glass on the side table from where her father had accidentally knocked a picture off the wall. Lilian glanced over at the sink, the pile of pans and and dirty dishes was almost taller than she was and her heart sank at the prospect of a very boring morning of cleaning, followed by an afternoon of being yelled at again. She sighed and huffed and puffed but eventually realised that no amount of pouting had the power to clean a plate, so she grabbed the kitchen pale and went outside to collect water from the creek. It had clearly rained during the night, so the short journey down the steps to the water was more treacherous than usual. On her way back up she slipped a couple of times and got angry at herself for losing so much water before even having reached the kitchen. Her temper brought her mind back to the previous day. ‘It was only a bit of paint’ she sulked as she poured a splash of water into the sink and mixed in some lye soap. Her father had called her ‘malicious and irresponsible’, but Lilian didn’t understand how trying to brighten up the Padda Stone with some nice green paint and some blue spots could be seen as malicious. “I mean yes,” she thought, “It is the symbol of the town’s spirit, and everyone loves it. But it’s just a big grey statue of a toad at the end of the day isn’t it? I just thought it could use a bit of brightening up. Stupid smiling rock.”
The Padda Stone was Benlunar’s oldest and proudest sculpture. Some of the townsfolk swore that it was there even before the town was built, and that the buildings had actually been constructed around it. The statue looked like a giant grinning toad, it’s mouth was open wide and water from the mountain flowed out from it and into the lily-padded pools and ponds beneath it. Even Lilian had to admit that it was a beautiful thing and by the time the last plate had been dried and put back on the shelf she could finally admit that she was jealous of it. She knew how ridiculous that sounded. Jealous of a statue? Who’d ever heard of such a thing. But it wasn’t the rock itself that Lilian envied. It was the love and admiration it got from all who saw it. She somehow had thought that by painting or damaging the rock, she could be seen to be larger, lovelier and more admired. At the very least, she would be seen. Her parents were builders and were always working in some far off corner of the town. She didn’t really get on with her class mates, and her teacher, Madame Streng had almost given up trying to teach her anything. She spent most of her time at home reading or hunting flipsies in the creek. And all the while people would flock to see that stupid rock, ‘old toady’ she called it, which never failed to produce a stern look from her Mum.
When Lilian finally wiped the last trace of soup off the wall, she turned to have a look at her handywork. The kitchen almost sparkled with cleanliness. Lilian wanted to shut the door quietly and never use another plate, so that her work would not be ruined. The patch of sun from the skylight in the kitchen ceiling told her that it must be nearly midday and that her parents will probably be back soon for lunch. Lilian decided to head towards the Stave and meet them on their way back, she knew she would have to apologise to everyone eventually, and, much like cleaning a kitchen, the sooner she started, the sooner it would be done.
Lilian breathed in the fresh mountain air as she closed her front door behind her. It was shaping up to be a sunny Spring and although the air still had a slight winter chill in it, the snow along the path banks had all but melted. The snow on the mountain top above the village was of course still there, and would likely stay there until the middle of Summer. Lilian’s house was down stream, towards the bottom of town so she had to walk up the muddy, wet path up towards the town centre. She didn’t mind though, she enjoyed spotting the snowdrops that were beginning to appear underneath the newly flowering trees. It was nice to see such bright colours in the canopy, thought Lilian, the end of winter is always so dreary and dark. Gradually, the tall wooden spire of the stave church got closer. It was by far the biggest building in Benluner and one of only 3 of its kind. The Stave Churches were old and wooden, built in tiers and layers by carefully arranging planks of wood, not a single screw or nail could be found in the whole building. Inside, the townspeople would gather and sing songs and pray to which ever God was being celebrated that time of year, or just one they thought might be lacking attention.
The front of the Stave looked out onto a small square where there were sometimes markets, or puppet shows or even Summer dances. This day however was a visiting day and Benlunar was preparing to welcome a host of strangers that would have travelled up from various cities. Some came to relax and drink the healing water, others came to touch and pay respects to the Padda Stone. What ever the reason, everyone in town was busily preparing for their arrival. Cityfolk were known to have fat purses and would pay a little extra just for something to remember their trip by. Lilian saw Xander and Liny piling some pies onto a table, the co-owners of Benlunar’s only Inn, The Fox and Octopus, Liny’s keen business mind was only matched by the deliciousness of Xander’s famous pies. Their smell beckoned Lilian forward.
‘Ah ah’ snapped Liny, noticing Lilian’s eyes widening, ‘you can have one if there are any left over’
‘But there are never any left over!’ complained Lilian
‘Well then you’ll have to buy one’ smiled Xander as his hands deftly positioned each pie so that it caught the sun in the most appealing way. Liny kept a keen and cunning eye on her merchandise whilst her husband worked.
‘Have you seen my Mum and Dad?’ Asked Lilian. She noticed Xander and Liny glance at each other before answering. “They’re in the Stave” Said Liny, “They told us what happened yesterday, you know Brother Thomas has been cleaning the Padda Stone all morning..”
Lilian felt her stomach turn, she was embarrassed and quickly looked away.
“Here” Whispered Xander “For Brother Thomas” He handed her a delicious looking pie that smelt of rhubarb and cream. Lilian wanted nothing more than to eat it there and then, but she knew what Xander was doing and she thanked him before heading towards the large wooden doors of Benlunar’s central Stave Church.
The Large church hall wasn’t just a place of worship, it was where important town decisions were made and various people were voted for into positions that Lilian didn’t really understand. The walls were covered in tapestries, large colourful carpets that showed the mountains and the moon, the river and the valley and even one with the gormless toady face of the padda stone. The carpets softened the echoes slightly but the circular nature of the main hall meant that even the slightest whisper could be heard as clearly as the churches bowl bells. So when Lilian poked her head round the large wooden doors covered in carved frogs, she could hear the words of Brother Thomas, who was talking to a couple in the middle of the hall.
“I’m just thankful it washed off easily, she might have used iron based paste, and then we’d all be in trouble!” To Lilian’s surprise, he was smiling.
“All the same” Lilian recognized her Mother’s voice, “She’s gotten worse the past few weeks. Restless, argumentative and the language she uses, well let’s just say I don’t think she learned it from school”
Just then, Brother Thomas looked up and saw Lilian, creeping forward. Her parents turned to look at her, they both wore concerned expressions and didn’t seem to have gotten much sleep last night. Lilian’s father saw the pie and understood.
“Lilian. I think you have something to say to Brother Thomas”
Lilian suddenly felt very tired herself. Her throat began to hurt and she could feel tears building in her eyes. She held out the pie like a shield and whispered,
“I’m sorry Brother Thomas” The Church fellow looked as though he was ready to forgive her, but her mother’s face told her that wasn’t going to be enough. Lilian went on.
“I didn’t mean to break the Padda Stone, I just, I didn’t think, you know? I wanted to paint it, so I got the colours and thought it might look funny but now I know, you know, I know really that it’s precious and important and so yes I’m very sorry I promise I won’t do it again” The pie began to get very heavy in her hands and she was thankful that Brother Thomas knelt down to take it from her.
“Now now,” he said, his kind eyes reassuring her “The stone is not broken, it was merely decorated for a while”
“It was vandalised” Lilian’s father interrupted
“I wouldn’t go that far,” replied Brother Thomas, “How about we all agree that it was spruced up without permission, I think it’s clear that Lilian is very sorry and if it meant that I got a pie from the the Fox & Octopus everytime I had to do some washing, well let’s just say this church would be as clean as gold piece and I’d be too big to fit through the doors”
Lilian smiled, she looked at her Mum and saw that even she was beginning to soften, although it might take more than one joke to calm her Father.
“Why don't we all have a sit down this evening and we can talk about what Lilian would like to do over the coming weeks. I think she’s becoming a little too clever for Ms Streng’s class and it might be time that she joins in in helping around the town.” On this last note Lilian’s parents both seemed pleased but Lilian’s stomach was doing somersaults. What did he mean ‘helping around the town’? Was Lilian going to be given a job? She was too young to be put to work, she had things to learn, games to play and books to read. Not to mention that she hadn’t even caught one flipsy!
Just then the wooden doors flew open and Brother Ulnar stumbled through them. No one knew how old brother Ulnar was but Lilian remembered her Mum saying once that he had been an old man even when she was a baby, so Lilian thought he must be at least 104.
“They’ve come Brother” He croaked, almost tripping over his tattered robes in excitement. Brother Thomas turned to Lilian’s parents: “Edward, Polly, I’ll see you this evening. Goodbye Lilian thanks again for the pie.” Lilian watched as the pie seemed to disappear into Brother Thomas’ long sleeve as he walked towards the doors.
She followed him, not wanting to talk with her parents just yet and in seconds she was back in the Spring sunshine. In the short time she had been in the Stave Church the little square outside had transformed. Whereas before there had been just a few townsfolk setting up stalls, there was now a great many people milling around, inspecting the various wears of the Benlunar locals, buying pies and sweet caramel honey combs. The little wind up wooden toads resembling the Padda Stone seemed to be a particular favourite amongst the newcomers. Every 3 weeks from now until the end of Summer Benlunar would look like this. “I suppose that’s the price we pay” Thought Lilian “For living somewhere so beautiful”. Lilian looked around for Brother Thomas but he had already been swallowed up by the crowd. She walked amongst the visitors, admiring their bright city clothes. Occasionally she would see someone dressed more like her, but they were usually servants or vallets responsible for looking after the many horses that brought the cityfolk up through the hills and forests.
“I’ve been travelling for almost two weeks!” She heard one portly gentlemen say, dressed in a bright orange doublet, “I swear, one more day and I would have thought our guides were leading us off to be lost, ransomed off to our loved ones like cattle.” Lilian smiled at his exaggeration but just then a cold shiver swept over her. She turned to see who the gentleman was speaking to and she found herself looking at an older man dressed in a dark, shimmering cloak. It looked like a lake reflecting the night’s sky. It even had the occasional pearl or silver button that looked like stars in the darkness. He didn’t wear any jewelry but he had a white beard, and a bald head and his cold grey eyes were looking directly at Lilian.
As soon as she met them however, he turned to look back at the larger man who was now going on about how he hoped the mountain air might cure his rheumatism.
“My friend,” The old man’s voice cut through the hubbub of the crowd like a knife through butter, “This fresh air might very well do wonders for Rheumatism, but it will not help you in the slightest.”
The orange gentlemen looked confused, “Um.. why not.”
“Because you have gout” The orange man was taken aback. And then, suddenly he began to laugh. “Hahaha I knew I shouldn’t have trusted that quack in Bonneville”
“Indeed.” Said the bearded stranger as he reached into the depths of his cloak, “The air and water here will do you good no doubt but if you wish to rid yourself completely of pain I suggest you take two of these a day.” He handed the Gentleman a small bottle of purple sweets, or were they pills thought Lilian. The Gentleman looked shocked and pleased.
“Why thank you Good sir, what do I owe you?”
“My Lord,” Said the stranger, “I require no payment. Only the pleasure of seeing you back in the city, to check if my remedy has worked.”
“Granted!” said the orange gentleman, pleased with how this conversation had gone. Now he could enjoy his time in Benlunar without the fear of his condition worsening.
Lilian detected no smile or trick from the bearded man, and she was usually very good at spotting when someone was trying to play a joke. Lilian she was so distracted by the conversation the she wasn’t looking where she was going and she stumbled headlong into her mother’s flowing blue skirt.
“There you are!” She said to Lilian. “Come along, let’s go home and eat, there are too many people here and our work in the market is done.” Lilian threw one more glance behind her, but the crowd had shifted once again and the two men were gone.
For the rest of the day Lilian said very little. Every harsh word, every judgement from her parents were like bricks slowly forming into a wall around her. Within this shell the outside world couldn’t hurt her so much.
“See!” Her father exclaimed over dinner, “She’s not even listening.” Lilian looked up from her untouched bread and stew. Her father’s face was red and her mother looked close to tears. Lilian wanted to rage, to shout back, to say that not only WAS she listening that she had heard it all before a thousand times. She wanted to say that she was sorry to be such a disappointment, that she was sorry to not be perfect like Kilde, or one of the Bergren kids, that she was sorry to have ever even been born and why had no one thanked her for cleaning the kitchen!!? She wanted to scream it all but instead she said nothing. She ate nothing. She did nothing but build the walls thicker around her, to hide away alone with her heart. Suddenly a tear found a secret passageway and escaped out of her fortress, making its way to freedom by running down her cheek. Her parents must have noticed it as the atmosphere in the kitchen changed. Her father stopped yelling and breathed out a large sigh.
“I suppose it’s my fault really.” He said, “We’ve been so busy all winter repairing the town, and fixing the upper bridge in time for Spring that we’ve neglected you. I’m sorry if that’s the case Lilian. You know we love you and I for one am going to do better from now.”
To Lilian, this was worse than any argument, she would rather have her Dad rage, roar at the top of his lungs, scream at her send her to her room without food ever again than to see him do this. To watch him deflate and blame himself for something she did. Lilian couldn’t handle it, and she found herself standing up, opening the kitchen door and running out into the cold air, tears stinging in her eyes and the concerned voices of her parents fading and echoing behind her.
The night was cold and Lilian panted thick clouds of breath as she stumbled up the path towards the town centre. Nearing the square she could hear the crowds from inside the the church and the Inn, the visitors were always greeted with a big party but Lilian didn’t want to face people just now. She found her feet carrying her away from the noise and down through the back alleys and side streets towards the outskirts of town. Down, around and out through the back of the lodge and up towards the mountain path. By the time she crossed the tree line she was no longer paying attention to where she was going. All she knew as she replayed the events and conversations of the past 3 months in her head over and over again was that she wanted to get away. Her tears were freezing to her cheeks now as she found the last of the winter snow. It crunched under her feet and she realised she had left Benlunar far behind her. She stopped. Looked up. And realised where she was. The snow shone in the moonlight and illuminated the ponds and flowers around her. Above her she saw the mountain from which the town got its name, and above that she saw the moon. The biggest, roundest, brightest moon she had ever seen. It seemed so close it was as if it was balancing on the snow capped mountain peak. The light from the moon flowed down the hills across the snow and into the river and the river flowed through the mouth of the giant stone toad in front her. For a moment, Lilian forgot all her troubles. She was paralysed by the beauty of her surroundings. How could she ever have wanted to damage such a wonderful thing, she thought. For a second she stood still, listening to the trickling of water and the soft scurrying of any nearby woodland creature. In the distance, she heard an owl hooting and she found herself calming down. She took a deep, cold breath and was about to shut her eyes when she realised, she was not alone.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement. Coming out of the tree line, about 100 yards ahead of her, toward the base of the Padda Stone, a shadowy figure emerged. Lilian stood very still, knowing that the slightest movement would alert this person to her presence, the way their motion had alerted her. She was stood amongst tall grass and she realised that the moonlight was making everything around her, including her hair, a shimmering blue/grey colour. She watched as the figure walked towards the stone toad. They were not rushing, nor did they seem to be sneaking around, but the mere fact that they were here in the first place seemed strange to Lilian. The rest of the guests were drinking and dancing in town and the Benlunar locals could visit the stone at any time, so why bother coming in the middle of a cold night? As the figure reached the edge of the largest pond, the one directly beneath the Mouth of the Padda Stone, it knelt down and produced a small black bag. Lilian could hear the slight clinking of glass as they reached into the bag and pulled out a set of what seemed to be empty bottles and vials. Just then, they froze as something had caught their attention. Lilian was worried that she had been spotted but instead the stranger stood up and looked in the opposite direction. They were looking up towards the moon, at the top of the mountain. Lilian followed their gaze and at once saw what had captured their attention. The snow on the peak was now brighter than ever, and the moon was practically touching it. Lilian felt her eyes widen in amazement as she saw what appeared to be liquid flowing off the moon and down the side of the mountain. It was as if the moon was bleeding or crying and the mountain was catching every tear. The liquid was bright silver and flowed slowly over and under the snow on the mountain face. Lilian had never been so still, she realised that she hadn’t taken a breath in ages and slowly breathed in the cold air once more. A strange energy seemed to fill her lungs, like when you breathe in a delicious smell and although she couldn’t put her finger on what the air smelled of, she knew that she wanted to breathe it all in at once. She almost forgot about the stranger and when she glanced back they seemed to be just as taken in by this wondrous sight as she was. Slowly the silver liquid flowed down the mountain and after about 10 minutes it had reached the stream that flowed through the mouth of the Padda Stone. Once it hit the old grey toad Lilian almost wept at the sight. The shimmering light liquid flowed around the stone and into every crack and crevice of its body. It also fell from its mouth and created a cloud of light in the pond below. Once it hit the water, the stranger was spurred into action. They unstoppered one of their many bottles and began walking into the pond. The liquid shone all around them now and Lilian could see them more clearly. She saw a bald head and a grey beard and a cloak as dark as a starry sky. She recognized the man as the mysterious doctor from the market. The silver and pearls on his cloak reflected the moonlight as he held out his hands and started filling his first bottle with the liquid light falling from the mouth of the stone toad. Lilian watched as he filled first one, then two, three, four more and more bottles until all of them were filled and stoppered and placed back in the bag. Lilian counted 18 in total. As he waded out of the pond and back on the bank she saw that he was smiling. It was the smile of a done deed, one that had been accomplished after much planning and patience. The smile quickly faded however when the man looked up and stared directly at Lilian. Lilian didn’t think it was possible to be any more still, but like a mouse in the sights of an owl she prayed that her movement would not betray her position. The man’s eyes seemed to be searching, making sure that his hunch was correct. He was about to take a step towards her, about to shout or say something when the Padda stone opened its eyes.
Benlunar - Trailer
Listen to the original trailer for Benlunar with music by Tom Figgins. First episodes to be released on the 20th of January 2020.