This is a first draft of a chapter for my fantasy novel.  There are references to things that aren't explained in just this one chapter.

It hasn't been edited yet but let me know what you think:



                                                     Kubari encounter, burned at the stake 

 It was hot...which made Danion uncomfortable. It was dry, which made Danion thirsty. And he was stuck on a dirt road that wasn't even on the map, trailing behind his Battle Priest, headed to a piss-ant little village because someone thought they saw something, which made Danion...irritable.

 The Archon Council, displaying the type of wisdom Danion had come to expect from them, decided that all Fey sightings within twenty miles of any Ruin were to be investigated—in person.

 Rael didn't react one way or the other when the Prelate handed her the assignment. As usual, Prelate Name Needed behaved as if Danion wasn't there. This suited Danion just fine—but he was certain Prelate Name Needed gave this assignment to Rael to get at Danion.

 Some people get upset when I separate them from their money, Danion thought. He's hoping I'll be killed while we're in The Fringe Name Needed. I can't just let this pass.

 Oh yes, Danion would make that pretentious turd pay for this.

 He liked thinking thoughts like this while they were on the road. At least it kept his mind occupied. The terrain was nothing but rocks. And smaller rocks. And bigger rocks. Nothing but rocks...and dust.

 He was just preoccupied enough to nearly walk straight in to Rael. She'd stopped, and the tails of the Warcote fluttered warning Danion away.

 The Priest stood perfectly still. Her eyes closed. “Do you hear that?” she asked. Danion closed his eyes, “Some birds, probably a lizard or two, that's just abou...”, then he froze.



 For a moment, just at the edge of hearing, he thought he heard a Kubari roar...but far off. Danion frowned and glanced at Rael. “This was supposed to be a Fey sighting,” he breathed, suddenly very uncomfortable.

 Rael simply nodded then continued up the road.

 ***

 By afternoon, they had reached The Onyx Hostel at the mouth of the canyon. The hostel was small, consisting of two buildings. One building consisted of a large room with an iron stove in the center. A wide stovepipe went up eight feet to the peak of the roof. Placed in two even rows, a dozen cots lined the walls.

 The other structure was an outhouse.

 Danion carefully positioned the wagon then unhitched Pester. The hostel had no stable, just a pen. Rael was talking quietly with one of the acolytes, a Region Needed boy with skin like polished mahogany. His hair, a glossy black, hung in a braid identical to Rael's.

 Danion just caught the end of the conversation, “''s what all the noise is about I imagine. Don't know who's killing who but that Kubari stopped shouting about an hour ago.”

 “You're sure it was Kubari?” she pressed.

 “Yes Battle Priest,” The acolyte was around fifteen years old as far as Danion could tell. He seemed nervous.

 When Rael glanced his way, Danion tilted his head, a silent question asking what she wanted to take.

 “Bring the boar spear.”

 Of course. 'Bring the boar spear'. Lugging a seven foot long spear along a narrow canyon should be good for a few laughs,he thought.

 On days like this, Danion truly understood the meaning of Penitent.

 ***

 Danion could hear the miners long before he could see anyone. The sound of their shouting and cheering echoed over and over until he couldn't tell how far away they were.

 “Can we stop for a few minutes? This thing isn't exactly portable,” Danion complained. Rael stopped and turned, fists planted on her hips. Uh-oh.

 “Do you hear that?”, she placed a palm behind her ear with an exaggerated lean toward the trail. “Do you? Do you know what that is?”

 Danion got the feeling she was going to deliver the lecture no matter what he said so he simply waited—resting. Sometimes he wondered if Rael truly had no idea she was being manipulated or if this was just her way of giving in without actually giving in.

 “I hear shouting, and chanting, and cheering. That doesn't sound like people under attack by a Kubari.”

 Danion frowned, “So?”

 Rael frowned back, “So what's all the noise about? Place Name is a mining village. There's a general store but everything else is just for mining,” Rael made a pulling-toward gesture, encouraging Danion to continue.

 Danion waited.

 Rael finally grunted and snapped, “It's the middle of the day! Everyone should be in the mine.” Danion opted for an expression meant to be both enlightened and fascinated.

 It was the only way to get her to stop.

 Since he'd finally gotten her to stop, he adopted a stentorian tone that he knew would drive her crazy. “The boar spear is ineffective against Kubari in a one on one exchange as a Kubari, unlike a boar, will not first, throw itself on a spear and second, try to run up the shaft to maim you before it dies.”

 Danion tried to look as smug as possible.

 Rael shrugged and turned up the trail, “I know.”

 Danion stood stunned for a moment then gathered up the spear and trotted after her, “You...know?” he puffed.

 Without looking back, Rael called, “Something about Penitent you didn't understand?”

 Danion sighed. It was going to be one of those kind of days.

 ***

 The trail only lead to one place. A few dozen wooden huts, a general store that was more of a warehouse than anything else, a wholly unremarkable place as far as Rael was concerned.

 What did concern her was the massive Kubari tied to a wooden stake in the center of the village. What also concerned her was the scrap wood piled around the creature. Oh, and the hundred or so mining families all screaming for the thing to burn.

 She turned to Danion and raised an eyebrow.

 “No idea, but I don't think subtle will work here,” he shrugged.

 Rael took a deep breath, steadied herself, and drew on the Ley. The energy was weak this far up but she was able to amplify her voice. “Who's in charge here,” she roared.

 As the last echos of her voice died, the entire tableau froze, then all eyes turned Rael's direction. “Nice plan,” Danion whispered from the corner of his mouth. He attempted to hand her the boar spear. She ignored him.

 She strode forward, heels clicking on the bare stone, the Warcote, sensing her agitation, flared its tails. She adopted her best glare. There was no way in hell she could take on a crowd this size if they decided to turn on her. Time to bullshit my way through,she thought.

 She stopped just a few feet away from the edge of the mob, planted her fists on her hips, and snapped, “Well??”

 A balding, middle-aged man, Rael's height but whip-thin, pushed his way through the crowd, “I'm the foreman. Who are you?”

 Rael glared at the man, waiting.

 The foreman dropped his gaze and muttered “Ma’am.”

 Rael drew herself up in what she hoped would be taken for an intimidating stance. “My name is Rael, duly ordained Battle Priest, Order of Al'Karresh.” Her voice, still amplified, carried over the crowd.

 “By my authority as magistrate, I order you to disperse at once and surrender the Kubari to my custody,” she turned and began to push her way through the crowd toward the stake as if that was all that needed to be said.

 "Or what?”

 Shit.

 Rael turned slowly, “What did you say?” she hissed.

 The foreman took a deep breath, gathering his courage she supposed, then said “Or what? You said yerself, yer a magistrate. Yer not gonna kill no one.” Rael chose not to point out the double-negative. “You can't. So we ain't going away and we ain't givin up this...thing,” he waived toward the Kubari.

 The tails of the Warcote fell limp. Rael smoothed her expression into a friendly smile. She ambled toward the foreman, unhurried. Stopped in front of him, arms hanging comfortably at her sides,

 “You know, you're right, I can't kill anyone.”

 She didn't draw on the Ley. She didn't need to. She simply balled up her fist and punched the foreman in the face. There was a wet crunch, a spray of blood as his nose broke. Then he sat down—hard. His hands flew to his face. “Yhu...yuh,” he whined.

 Without another word, Rael turned and started back through the crowd. “I'm cutting this thing loose. If you want to live you should probably hide—in the mines,” she hoped they'd get the hint.

 Slowly, people began to drift toward the mine. The crown began to break up. Slowly, but the were breaking up. One problem solved, she thought.

 Rael stopped at the edge of the pile of scrap wood. She shook her head. The 'pyre' consisted of a few pieces of rickety furniture broken up and piled around the stake. She doubted it would kill the Kubari but it would burn it badly enough that it would die...eventually.

 These people wanted this thing to suffer.

 The foreman, she'd almost forgotten him, started to shout. “You ain't got no right to come here and tell us what to do!” She wondered if he knew the effect was spoiled by the whine in his voice.

 One hand held the sleeve of his shirt to his nose, the other gesticulated wildly.

 Rael decided she'd had enough. She grabbed the man by his collar and pulled him close...almost nose-to-nose...she suppressed a snicker. “Have you ever seen anyone burned alive before?”

 The foreman started, “That thing ain't no person...”

 She continued as if he hadn't spoken, “They don't scream. Once the flame touch them the shriek and shriek and shriek.” Her eyes distant she continued, “Then they go quiet and they just sort of croak. I heard it's because they tear the vocal chords.”

 “I...” he started again. She kept talking, “Even after all of their hair and their skin is burned away. Their eyes and ears are gone. All of their skin burned away. And still, they struggle. Trying to get away from the flames.”

 She shook herself. “They're dead in just a few minutes...usually.” She pointed over he shoulder at the Kubari. “But that? That would have maimed that creature. Even if he didn't die he'd never be able to hunt so his clan will not take him back.”

 She turned back and fixed the foreman's gaze. “You wanted to hurt this thing. Why? Would you be okay with some Kubari burning one of you to death?
 The foreman's gaze hardened, “We were just gonna burn that thing, not eat it.”

 Rael stood stunned for a moment. “Not going to eat it? THAT'S the moral high ground??” She threw her hands up and went back to the ersatz pyre.

 She kicked at the debris. Something about it seemed familiar but she she couldn't place it. She looked up at the Kubari, restrained a scant three feet away. “Can you understand me?” she asked.

 The creature was about average as far as any Kubari she'd ever seen. At, around eight feet, it loomed over her and she was questioning her choice of standing so close. She almost felt ridiculous standing there, fists on her hips, looking up, and up at this giant.

 Like most of the males she encountered, this Kubari was hugely muscled, clad in the standard boiled-leather vest and a clan tartan...Clenched Fist, she thought. They keep popping up.

 The Kubari glared at her. Rael took a few steps back...her neck was beginning to hurt. “I asked, if you understand me,” she tried again.

 The Kubari nodded, barely.

 “As magistrate, I've determined you are being held illegally. I must conduct an investigation but you are free to leave after I've determined what happened here. Do you understand?”

 The Kubari's lip curled, displaying an impressive set of fangs.

 Rael sighed. “Look, do you want me to cut you loose or not?” After a moment, it nodded again. Rael was sure to make eye contact, “Bond,” she said. There was a long pause, then the creature nodded again. She was sure she'd used the correct form for a sworn oath from a Clenched Fist Kubari...mostly.

 Rael turned back to Danion, holding out her hand. “Knives.”

 Danion stood there looking back. “Knives?”

 And now I look like a fool.

 She stomped back to the trail head where Danion waited, boar spear held awkwardly. “My knives,” she held out her hand again. Danion stared at her as if she'd grown another head.

 “You said bring the boar-spear so I brought the boar-spear,” he tried to hand it to her again.

 Rael slapped his hands away and took a deep breath, “Danion, from this point on always bring the knives. In fact, you can never have too many knives. Bring. Knives. No matter what else I tell you to bring. Understand?”

 Danion had finally managed to get the boar-spear under control and stood leaning comfortably on the haft. Feeling vindictive, she snatched it away causing him to stumble. She decided to give herself credit for not giving in to the temptation to choke the smug out of him.

 She stomped back to the Kubari, kicked aside the meager pile of wood. She felt foolish attempting to cut ropes with a seven foot long spear but she finally managed to cut the creature free.

 The Kubari immediately turned toward the mine entrance, fists clenched, and roared. Rael shouted, “Bond!” The massive head swung toward her. She was surprised canine features could show an expression of utter hatred.

 Slowly, the Kubari's fists opened. It stood straight then massaged its wrists. It nodded after a few moments.

 Rael kicked around the debris a few more times then finally realized what she was looking at.

 “Huh.”

 ***

 Rael was kicking around the few sticks of furniture those fools tried to burn the Kubari with when she said something that always made Danion nervous.

 “Huh.”

 Danion waited at the trail-head, keeping an eye on the Kubari. Rael, for some reason, felt perfectly comfortable turning her back on the creature. He knew she could move blindingly-fast when she had to but her posture was relaxed.

 As she examined the debris, she held out the boar-spear with one hand...then began to wave it around. Danion decided it would easiest to just take the spear so he edged sideways around the Kubari and took the spear in both hands.

 He was happy that he only shook a little.

 “What looks familiar about this stuff?” she kicked a what looked like a wooden hinge with a scrap of canvas attached.

 Danion risked a quick look, “Broken up cots.”

 Rael turned to the Kubari and asked, “How did they capture you in the first place?” The Kubari gestured toward the back of its head. Danion edged back toward the other end of the village.

 From his position, he could clearly see blood dried and matted into the creatures short fur at the back of its head. Rael stared curiously for a moment then addressed the creature directly, “We're going down the mountain to the hostel. Understand?”

 The creature didn't reply, is just began walking—straight toward Danion. The haft of the boar-spear clattered on the surrounding rock as he tried to bring the point into line. He ended up dropping it instead.

 The Kubari walked straight past him as if he weren't even there. Rael walked past moments later. “Let's go,” she demanded. It sounded like a demand to him anyway.

 As he started after her, her voice drifted back up the trail, “bring the boar-spear.”

 Danion sighed, gathered up the boar-spear, and went after her. At least it's down hill, he thought.

 ***

 Rael had to trot to keep pace with the Kubari. It took away her last shred of dignity but at least no one was around to see it.

 “Rael,” Danion puffed.

 Almost no one.



 Danion trotted to catch up, the haft of the boar-spear dragging on the rocky ground behind him. “What was so special about cots?”

 

 She continued without looking back, “They were new. Why would a village of dirt-poor miners burn brand new cots?” Danion waited so she continued, “And how does a collection of unarmed miners get the drop on a Kubari warrior on a trail that only goes in two directions?”

 Danion frowned, “I want to guess the cots came from the hostel but they had a room full of them.”

 Rael thought out loud, “that's an official Onyx Order hostel. Acolytes are never assigned to hostels alone. Where was that kid's partner?”

 Danion replied from behind her, “What are you thinking? A fourteen-year old acolyte crept up on a Kubari warrior, bashed it on the back of its head—which is eight feet up, by the way—then gave those miners a bunch of cots to burn? You have to wear those bracelets at that age, don't you?”

 Rael stopped and turned, “How did you know about the...never mind.” The Kubari was nearly to the next switchback. She trotted again to catch up. He's right. It doesn't add up. Even if an acolyte could take down a Kubari, why drag it up a mountain to torture it to death?

 She'd get some answers when they got to the Hostel.

 ***Danion had returned the boar-spear to the wagon and made a show of strapping on his rapier. The Kubari ignored him. It continued to stare at Pester as if she was the tastiest thing he'd ever seen...at least it looked that way to Danion. Who knew what Kubari ate?

 Danion brushed down Pester, no easy task wearing a rapier, so he'd be close enough to overhear Rael as she questioned the acolyte she'd spoken to earlier.

 “Who else is assigned here,” she asked.

 “Myself and Mary-Kit, Battle Priest,” the kid sounded deferential but something about his tone was off. Danion's instincts were telling him something was wrong and he learned to trust them long ago.

 As he brushed Pester, he kept an eye on the area—and continued to eavesdrop.

 “Show me your hand,” Rael demanded. Danion's curiosity was piqued so he gave up brushing and watched. The boy held his left hand forward. “No,” she said. “The other one.”

 Looking confused, the acolyte extended his right hand. Rael grabbed it and pushed up his sleeve exposing a wide metal bracelet. More of a very short bracer than jewelry, Danion thought.

 Rael touched the bracer for a moment then nodded and let the kid's arm fall.

 “Where do you keep supplies. Not the larder, I mean supplies like clothing—or cots.” Oh. Danion at least understood where this was going now.

 The acolyte pointed over his shoulder toward the outhouse, “Supply shed, Battle Priest.”

 Oh. Danion was glad he hadn't needed the outhouse. That would have been embarrassing. Rael walked past the acolyte and pulled the shed door open.

 The Warcote was probably what saved her life.



 There was a deep whump that took Danon's breath away and Rael's body flew past, missing Pester by inches. She crashed to the ground in a heap. There was a roar of pure rage. Danion swung around, his back to Pester's side.

 The Kubari had pulled a six-foot rail loose from the pen and was charging the acolyte.

 Shit! Rael!

 Danion edged around Pester putting the wagon between him and the Kubari then turned and ran toward the still form of the Battle Priest.

 *** Rael had only asked a few questions when she realized the acolyte was lying about something so she used an interrogation technique, suddenly changing the subject, hoping to catch the kid off guard.

 So she examined his attenuation bracelet, feeding a small stream of Ley Energy in to it. The energy looped back, as it was supposed to. There were no breaks in the cuff. It was intact. If his kid had hit that Kubari from behind, he did it from very high up. So she scrapped that line of thought and changed the subject again, asking where their supplies are stored.

 He'd pointed out the shed almost out of reflex.

 So she'd gone right up to the door and pulled it open. As she suspected, there were no spare cots so she was right about where they got the fuel for the pyre. What she wasn't expecting was Mary-Kit.

 Mary-Kit wasn't hiding in the shed. She'd been hidden in the shed. At least her body had. That's when the acolyte at her back attacked using a bolt of raw Ley energy. She knew this technique. Called an energy bolt. Not very effective at range but able to pierce steel armor at close range.

 The amount of energy needed was draining, Priests only used this technique as a last resort.

 The Warcote was puncture-proof, which saved her life. It spread the force of the impact over her entire left side. This minimized the damage but still sent her twenty yards or so. The Warcote's tails curved in on themselves cushioning her landing.

 “Ooof.”

 Rael wasn't sure if she said that or thought it. Someone was looking down at her. Down? Why am I looking up?

 Her vision cleared. Danion was calling her name, patting her cheeks. She swatted his hands away. “Stop it. Stop it.”

 Danion moved away and Rael jumped to her feet. Or, at least, that's what she intended. She was still lying flat on her back. She reached up with both hands.

 “Little help, please?”

 Danion came back into view, took her hands, and pulled her to a sitting position. That was all she could manage. She massaged her head. “What..”

 “The creepy kid blasted you because you found his murdered partner and now your Kubari prisoner is trying to kill him with a fence post."  Danion managed to get the entire sentence out without taking a breath.


 “Huh.”



 ***

 Danion flinched at a loud crack from behind him. This was followed by a roar. Rael was still groggy and it was starting to look like she was out of this battle. Danion glanced down at his rapier then back at the wagon.

 There's no way I'm winning a fight with either of those two, he thought.

 Running in a crouch, Danion made it back to the wagon without incident then carefully peeked over the top. The acolyte stood there, fists glowing....actually glowing! He'd never seen Rael do anything like that.

 A few yards away the Kubari, looking much more threatening, stood clutching half of the fence-post it had procured earlier. The acolyte had a nasty bump on the side of his head. His glossy hair was matted, a small trickle of blood stood out on his ebony skin.

 The Kubari kept its distance. Carefully circling the acolyte. Danion noticed the kid wasn't wearing the bracer anymore. As he watched the fight unfold, Rael dragged herself up and leaned heavily on the wagon.

 “Any thoughts,” she asked as the Kubari feinted low then swung high attempting to brain the kid. The kid ignored the feint, ducked under the swing.

 Danion nodded toward the kid, “What was that bracer all about?” Rael spoke quietly, “Stops them touching the Ley. They're only supposed to touch the Ley under supervisor so they wear that bracer.”

 “Can't they just take it off,” he asked.

 Rael shook her head, “It can only be unlocked by a Priest.”

 Danion nodded toward the battle, “How did he get his off? And how is he able to do that?” he gestured toward the fight. The Kubari was holding its own but it was clearly moving more slowly.

 “We can answer those questions later, any thoughts on what to do about this?” she gestured unnecessarily toward the fight.

 Danion glanced around then his gaze fell on the open door of the shed. “I have an idea.”
   ***

 The Kubari was losing ground. The fence-post it was using as a weapon was now just a couple of feet long. It took a moment too long recovering from a swing and a blast from the acolyte's fist took it full in the chest.

 Unlike Rael, the Kubari did not have the protection of the Warcote. The creature staggered back several feet then fell over. Its leather vest was smoldering, smoke rising in lazy tendrils.

 The creature didn't move.

 The acolyte turned to deal with the Priest and her friend and came face to face with Mary-Kit. Her skin was ashen, the long slash he'd made in her throat gaped bloodlessly. She staggered toward him, pointing, accusing.

 Mary-Kit's mouth moved, trying to form a word....why?

 The acolyte began to back away in horror when a pair of arms wrapped around him from behind, the grip like iron. A cuff snapped in to place around his wrist.. The acolyte broke the grip and spun, instinctively drawing on the Ley...and got nothing.
 

 Rael punched him—hard. The kid went down in a heap and didn't move.

  ***

 Danion sat across from her. He'd used his spoon to fish something out of his bowl, a glistening gray lump, and was poking it.

 “What the hell is this?”

 Rael continued to stare at him until he looked up. “What? It's in my stew, I think I should know what it is.”

 “Don't you want to know what I found out?” She used a lilting tone. The effect was completely ruined by her scowl.

 “Not really, no,” he answered simply. He resumed poking at the lump. “Is this a potato or something?”

 Rael slapped her palms on the table. Everyone in the room stopped and stared. “It's called a 'paddywack'! It's a lump of ground up bone and gristle that butchers boil and sell to people to feed to their dogs,” she yelled.

 Some of the other diners began poking in their bows. The innkeeper was furiously wiping out mugs while carefully making sure not to see the suspicious stares of his guests.

 Danion dropped his spoon into his bowl, looking nauseated.

 Rael mentally patted herself on the back for finally getting his attention. “The acolyte really was an acolyte but he was also a Place Name loyalist.”

 Danion sat there, waiting. Rael was certain he knew how much that annoyed her.

 “He really was joining the Onyx Order but he'd been in regular contact with Group Name. They were the ones that showed him how to remove the Object Name Bracelet.

 “So why all of this,” Danion had picked up his spoon and was poking in his bowl again.

 “That acolyte never took the Kubari in the first place. Group Name captured it and turned it over to the miners. The idea was to torture the creature then let it 'escape'. If it made it back to its Enclave in that condition, the Enclave Name would have considered it a violation of the Accord.”

 Danion looked up, “So that was the big plan? Set a Kubari on fire and hope it starts a war?”

 “Sort of,” she replied. That Kubari is some sort of figure in the Enclave Name enclave. Named Pharaoh. Very high profile. The Kubari would have been furious.”




Danion frowned, "Isn't he dead?"




Rael shook her head,  "Oh, no.  Blasting a Kubari like that just makes them mad.  He was up and away sometime during the night."



Danion pretended to be interestred...it didn't work.
 
 Rael bit her lower lip, “How did you figure out his bracer was a fake?”

  Danion looked up, an expression of hurt on his face. “I'm a thief, remember? I can tell the difference between real and fake. Once I realized his bracer wasn't real I thought you could try...her's instead.”

  Danion resumed studying his bowl. Rael took a deep breath and asked “Are you okay?”

  Danion looked up, “The ability I was born with? The ersatz shape-shifter? I don't just assume someone's form. I feel them. Everything about them comes through in just a touch.” Danion shuddered, “But that girl, Mary-Kit? She was cold...empty. Hollow. But there was something there. Not her, but...something that knew...it knew my name.” Danion shook his head. “I don't know how to explain it.”




  Rael, in an uncharacteristic display of support, reached across the table and took Danion's hand, her eyes wide and sincere, “I won't ask you to imitate a dead person ever again. I promise.”

  Danion barked out a laugh, “Liar.” Danion turned to the inn-keep and bowed with a flourish. “Good sir you serve what is, far and away, the finest dog food I have ever had.”

  On the way out, he clapped one of the other diners on the shoulder, “And it's made with real dog!”

  There was a small stampede of customers...leaving.

  “You know I can arrest you for something like that, right?”

  Danion threw up his hands, “You win. First round is on me.”

  Rael tilted her head. Danion dropped his gaze to his shoes, shuffling nervously. “Er, okay, the first round is on that guy back there.” He gestured with a thumb over his shoulder. “But I saved him from eating dog food...so it's like a public service or something.”

  Rael cracked a smile.

  They decided to get dinner somewhere else.

 

Last edited by Conspiracy Theory (7/16/2017 5:15 pm)