The Fifth Star - Chapter 15 (1/2) - In Ruin

A few weeks earlier…

For generations the people of Kierton - most knowingly, some less so - had danced precariously on the edge of a blade, caught between the demands of two opposing factions. Despite the village's strong ties to the Order of the Fifth Star, they had never been discovered as rebellion supporters - in part due to the extravagant amounts of food they sent to the capitol each autumn to keep the Empire’s attention averted, piled high on the carts as they trundled off towards Valterik. The cost to them was high, and food for the villagers was rationed carefully as a result, but their fertile fields allowed them to support both the Empire and the Fifth Star rebels without starving, and more importantly, without the Empire knowing anything was amiss.

This year had been different. A call of desperation had been sent from Odan Reis that more food was required from their supporters wherever it could be spared to sustain their ever-growing ranks. The village elder, Dreidan, had held a meeting, and the consensus had been clear: reduce the tax sent to Valterik, and redirect the extra to Odan Reis, citing a poor harvest as the cause for the change. After all, they always sent more than they were required to - surely Tibori's taxmen would forgive them a shortage after so many years of thankless work.

However, they thought wrong. Alysse was in her home where she lived alone, taking care of the Rowanwoods’ daughter Marlenna, so the adults could share a peaceful night together. She often watched children for the other villagers, as she had none of her own and certainly did not mind the task.

The night was silent and calm. Alysse was just tucking little Marlenna into the spare bed she kept when a great booming sound from without the house startled them both. A noise of surprise escaped Alysse as she reflexively jumped to her feet, and the timid eight-year-old began to cry.

“Shhh, Marlenna,” she tried to soothe her, despite the hammering of her own heart inside her chest, “be a good girl and stay here. I’ll go and see.”

Alysse crept through the small house to the front, which faced the village square. Not so bold as to step outside without surveying what she’d be walking into, she crouched down to a crack in the wall beneath her single window, and peered through.What she saw almost sent her tumbling back on her heels. Soldiers flooded the village- a veritable swarm of them in the square itself, and more blocking all the alleyways between the houses. This was no casual visit, or a search for some refugee or mage talented child; the pure number of men outside proved it was much more.

Their general - she didn't catch his name as voices were no more audible through the glass than wordless muttering - strode into the circle formed by the houses, and Elder Dreidan was led out to face him. She watched as the two men argued, stifled a gasp as the aged man was knocked to the dirt. Oh, gods, she thought, they’re here about the food taxes. But at that point, the villagers couldn't  make up the difference had they wanted to, their second shipment to Odan Reis already well on its way.

Alysse knew they were in trouble, but the extent to which that was true did not set in immediately. It wasn’t until the general remounted his great warhorse, and made some pronouncement that sent the villagers pushing in an angry swarm towards him, that she realized how bad it was about to become. The mounted leader grabbed a torch, and to her horror, threw it onto the closest roof to him that caught ablaze like it was eager for the flames to consume it. The pushing crowd scrambled for weapons, and Alysse, though she was suddenly queasy, couldn’t tear her gaze away from the crack, but she was likewise too frozen by fear to think of going out to help. The fire spread with alarming speed, assisted along by the massive fireballs a mage, clad in red robes, threw about him with abandon.

She did turn her head away with an involuntary gasp as the first blood was spilled; Shodus, a dedicated member of the Fifth Star, a man who had been a close friend of her father's and had helped her gain entry to the secretive order years before. Tears began to flow, and then she remembered Marlenna in the other room waiting for her to return. It would be fruitless and doubtless bloody if she were to try to find either of the girl’s parents in the chaos, but she couldn't just leave her behind. She ran back into the spare room, fetched a cloak and wrapped the girl in it as she cooed sweet soothing words to the child, her voice betraying her and cracking from terror even as she told the child everything would be fine.

They passed through the modest house to the side door. Alysse took a deep, steadying breath and threw it open, nearly screeching aloud as she came face to face with a soldier guarding the alleyway. Her feet frozen in place, she said her prayers inwardly, her arms wrapped protectively around the shaking Marlenna. She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for death. It did not come.

Instead, another man in uniform had appeared at the mouth of the alley. For reasons completely unbeknownst to her, he struck, killing the first soldier mercilessly with a swift blade to the back. Alysse lost what control she possessed then and screamed mightily, but rather than kill her as well, the unknown soldier hushed them both and led her and Marlenna away from Kierton as the village went up in flames. The child sniffled and cried, but Alysse held a hand over her mouth as they ran to keep the noise from being any more audible than it already was.

“I’m so sorry about your village,” he started, “I know it means nothing to you now, but I swear, most of us had no idea.”

A tear rolled down Alysse’s cheek and she struggled to keep her composure. “Everyone’s dead, aren’t they? But… I thank you all the same. If you hadn’t been there...”

“I only wish I could have done more.” He sighed. “I wish I could go with you and keep you safe, but I’m afraid the presence of a deserter will not be much help. It would only paint a target on your back.”

“It’s okay,” she said simply, eyes shifting to look at the empty plains. She was getting eager to be on her way, away from the terrible destruction of her home. She could still hear the awful screams rising from the village behind them.

“I need to go. I doubt anyone’s noticed my absence yet.”

A voice came unexpectedly from behind him, “Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” The soldier whipped around as Alysse screamed only to see the red-robed mage she’d noted in the village centre standing not three feet away from him.

“He wasn’t there a moment ago!” she sobbed. How is that possible??

The mage just chuckled, eyes moving between the three of them. “You wouldn’t be assisting a fugitive, would you soldier?”

“I know nothing about fugitives or rebellion,” he said, “but I know you will not harm this woman or her child while I still live.”

“I can remedy that. Faster than you know.”

The soldier drew his sword and held it out in front of him. The tip swayed ever so slightly, betraying the tremble in his hands. “Run!” he shouted at Alysse and Marlenna, who obeyed with haste and tore off in the opposite direction.

Still, she couldn't resist looking back. He defended her and the girl valiantly, but to no avail – moments later, he fell to the ground, taken down with a ball of mage-fire. She felt a sharp pang of regret; she couldn't be sure that he'd died, but she didn't even know his name to thank the gods properly for his intervention.

Then the damned mage popped up in front of her. Alysse stumbled, causing her and Marlenna to fall to the ground with a crash. Her head cracked into the ground and pain erupted in her skull, but she managed to keep from falling into blackness. Still, her eyes were befuddled for several moments, enough time for the mage to act. When her vision returned he held the screeching child up, suspended off the ground by the collar of her shirt with one surprisingly well-muscled arm, his upper lip curled with disdain.

Alysse couldn't stand. Her head spun fiercely when she tried to. "No, don't hurt her," she pleaded, her arm extended towards Marlenna, "she's only a child. She's innocent!"

The mage's voice was deep and unapologetic as he replied, "I've got my orders. No one leaves alive."

She couldn't watch; Alysse slammed her eyes shut when she saw the curved knife in the mage's hand, listened helplessly as the girl's screams morphed into a horrific gurgle, and then nothing. She didn't open them to face her own demise. "Just make it quick," she begged of the man. She had already thought she was going to die once tonight, and been saved from it, only to be at the same position again. It was exhausting - she just wanted it all to be over, whatever the outcome.

His voice was befuddled. "You do not fear death?"

"No," she said, surprising herself, "death is only a release." Even as she said it, she could feel the truth of her words in her very bones. All she had seen and suffered in her lifetime - not only at the hands of the Empire - weighed heavily on her soul. She opened her eyes then, fixing her gaze on the mage, hoping her stare was as accusational and hate-filled as she felt.

"Bitter words, from one so young," he remarked, and she had to forcibly keep her eyes fixed on his, prevent herself from looking down at the tiny body that laid by his feet. She could hear the unspoken question: what made you so resentful?

She said nothing however, and he did not ask. He stepped over Marlenna's body towards her, and she glared at him, but she refused to beg for mercy. She would not give him the satisfaction. He stopped, and seemed to think for a long minute, during which her heart felt as if it were about to explode. Finally, he spoke again.     

"What good is a lesson if there is no one left to heed its message?" he said, the question seeming more introspective and for his benefit than her own. "My orders were not worded quite as succinctly as I stated. Go. Keep your life, and spread the word. Only death awaits those who cross Emperor Tibori."

Alysse opened her mouth to reply, but he vanished all at once, along with Marlenna's corpse. Once her head ceased its stars and spinning, she stood and did as she was commanded.

She ran.

She ran until her heart thundered harder than it ever had, till her lungs screamed at her to stop, and then ran some more, until she could go not one single step further. She collapsed in a heap right there in the grass, the sun just peeking above the horizon as her eyes shut against her will and forced her to sleep.

Alysse awoke only a few hours later, and for one, blissful moment, she forgot where she was, the remnants of sleep clinging to her mind and befuddling her. Then the grass she laid upon tickled her cheek, her eyes fluttered open to find herself not at home in her bed, and she was hit all over again with a wave of unfathomable pain. The tears came unbidden to her eyes, and she pounded her fists against the ground until their skin was tattered and bloodied. She was filled with sadness, but also a fearsome rage which sought a release, not appeased by merely beating on something that could not be hurt. I can't be the only one left, she convinced herself after a time. I need to go back. Her empty stomach rumbled angrily, but she put the discomfort aside and stood, heading back the way she came, her pace much slower this time.

It was nearly sunset again when Kierton came into sight. The air was hazy and trails of smoke were still visible, twirling up into the sky from the ruins. Her rational mind told her she would find no different, but her heart had desperately wanted to believe it could not be true. Even after her eyes first set upon the scattered bodies, she searched through the rubble of every house for survivors despite the stench of burnt flesh and death hanging heavy in the air everywhere she went. After she resigned herself to the truth of it all, she had no desire to stay here alone. Alysse said her goodbyes to the village, all the while trying to decide where she would go from there. She chose a direction at random and began to walk away. However as she turned to look back a final time she felt a niggling sensation that somehow, she was forgetting something - something important.

Only then she recalled the hideout. It was a pitiful little spot, only shown to her once before during her induction to the Fifth Star, but she couldn’t have lost its location if she tried. It was, after all, nestled in underneath the very tree where she’d shared her first kiss so many years ago, and was a permanent fixture in her memory. How could I have forgotten?! she berated herself, and she felt a glimmer of hope – surely someone had taken shelter there! – and she bolted to the tree, lifting the cleverly concealed trapdoor and throwing herself inside. A short tunnel there led to the door of the single room hideout, and she opened it with a broad smile, ready to greet whoever could be waiting on the other side.

Devastatingly, it proved to be empty. Though she had managed to keep herself relatively strong up until then, barring the damage to her hands, that single moment shattered the childlike optimism she’d clung to. She fell to her knees, and wept, sobbing out her grief for all those she lost. The men and women she’d grown up with, and now outlived. The children, like Marlenna, who would never reach adulthood. Freiya, Charus, Taryse, she recited their names with dismay. She simultaneously gave her thanks to the gods for sparing her life and cursed them for sparing none else. 

Eventually, a harsh lesson ingrained into her years before came to the forefront of her thoughts: no amount of tears can raise the fallen, and no amount of grief can undo what has already been done. With this in mind, she stood on shaking legs and surveyed the room. It held only a few pieces of furniture; a single bed with a straw mattress, a writing desk and rickety chair, and a few shelves set into a hole in the wall, piled high with preserved food stores and water skins. When her eyes set on the shelf, her stomach growled mightily, reminding her that she had not eaten since the day before. Reaching over the desk, she grabbed a pouch and opened it, pulled out several strips of dried meat, and sat in the chair while she ripped into it. Absently, she pulled open the top drawer of the desk as she chewed, and saw within blank parchment, ink and a quill. However, it turned out to be the drawer below that which held contents that interested her far more.

A map of Valteria was on top of the pile, and she pulled it out to study. Where could she go next? She’d never been further away from Kierton than Reivic, and there was no sense heading there with the Empire’s constant presence. She knew the rebels led from the city of Odan Reis, which was on this particular map, unlike the Empire’s own ones. It was far, far to the north, nestled in a cove along the ocean, and she studied the perfectly detailed map for a couple of minutes until curiosity had her pulling the rest of the drawer’s contents out and dumping them on the desk as well.

There was a lacquered board, full of letters she recognized and symbols she did not. Along with it, several sheets of parchment were rolled together and tied with a leather strip. A note, perhaps, from someone else who had made it here, but fled for some reason or another already? She wasn’t sure, but she untied the leather and carefully unrolled the sheets to read.

Alysse had always been skilled at her letters, and her eyes raced across the page, gradually widening as she understood what it was that she held. It was no goodbye letter, no, but a set of instructions. It was a guide for emergencies. These papers contained everything she needed to be an effective contact for the rebellion were Kierton to be destroyed, from an encrypted list of contacts in other cities, to the location of the messenger birds she hadn’t even realized they had, and even a detailed list of the items she’d find within the shelter. It warned her that with any tragedy, onlookers and curious eyes were sure to follow, along with refugees from other villages that may fear a similar punishment. Alysse wondered how whoever had written this could know that was a surety, but still she read on, enraptured by its contents.