Sunset of Lantonne (8 page)

Ilarra soon reached the gate that separated the central city with its towering keep and the outer village that encircled Lantonne. Without having to talk to anyone, she knew immediately that they were in a lot of trouble even that far from the keep.

Not only were the streets packed with people, even as late as it was getting, but the occasional inns that she could see every few blocks appeared to be the milling point of the vast majority of people. Twice, she steered herself and Raeln toward an inn, only to spot the owner or employees standing out front, shouting, “We’re full! Sod off!”

“This is pretty serious if this many people are getting kicked out of the city,” she mused in Raeln’s general direction, to which he nodded while still watching the crowds for threats.

Turning toward the western end of the village, Ilarra started to head for the next inn when she heard Raeln grunt angrily. She looked back just in time to see three young dwarven men running past Raeln and she saw the flash of blades. In that brief moment, Raeln’s belt pouches with their remaining coins vanished as did several of the books he carried under one arm. When Raeln tried to grab at the thieves, another dwarf darted past from another direction, snatching the bags from Raeln’s left arm.

Standing still and staring in the direction of the fleeing dwarves in utter shock, Raeln blinked and began slowly checking what all had been taken.

“Forget about them, Raeln,” Ilarra called back to him, grabbing his arm to hurry him along before he decided to run after them. Knowing his dislike of people who refused to abide by laws, she honestly expected him to chase the dwarven children down. “We need to get somewhere safe, or we won’t have anything left.”

Almost on cue, someone jostled Ilarra and she felt the weight of the books she carried suddenly lighten. She looked down and saw that out of the five books she had been holding, only two remained.

Clutching what little she had left to her chest as she began running toward the last inn on the street, Ilarra began to feel as though the thick crowds were a distinct threat. She avoided getting close to anyone if she could help it, scurrying as fast as she could up to the inn’s door.

As Ilarra reached for the partially open door, a heavyset woman came out, giving her a dark stare. Shaking her head, the woman stepped onto the top step of the building, blocking Ilarra’s path.

“We’re full up, too,” the woman announced, loud enough that others could hear. “Get moving, kid. No inns with space around here.”

“Where can I find a room in Lantonne?” asked Ilarra hopefully, trying to smile in a way that might make the woman take pity on her. More importantly, she hoped that the woman might not notice whatever angry look Raeln was probably giving her.

Instead of pity, the woman gave Ilarra an annoyed frown.

“Anyone without real money is being put out of the city proper at night, so couldn’t even begin to guess,” the woman told her and then waved away another group that came toward the inn. “King’s setting up for an attack. Everyone who isn’t important has to stay out, at least until the enemy is in sight. It’s not fair, but that’s how it is. If you’d been here yesterday, you’d have been fine. Today…well…you might have to just go camp on the plains and hope the army doesn’t march over you. Nobody’s got rooms left.”

Ilarra felt nearly ready to cry, seeing the hundreds of people like herself all trying to scramble for the last rooms in the large city. The chances of her finding anything were slim, if even that good. Suddenly, she remembered something.

“What about the village just outside Lantonne?” Ilarra asked the innkeeper, whose face crinkled in confusion. “North of the outer city. Would they have rooms?”

Laughing, the woman nodded and replied, “Yeah, there’s rooms there. Good luck. I hear they’re cheap, too. Doubt they’d turn you away, girl.”

Despite the woman’s tone, Ilarra finally felt like there was some hope. Motioning for Raeln to follow her, she made her way to the edge of Lantonne’s outer city and skirted around northward until they reached the road that had led them into the city hours earlier. By that point, the sky had begun to darken, making Ilarra wonder if they might make it as far as the village before it was completely dark.

It took them almost another hour to get fully out of the city proper and far enough out that Ilarra felt they were actually making headway. Soon after, she began to realize that, with night beginning to fall, there were no lights in the direction of the smaller village they were headed toward. Raeln would likely be able to see even in the dark night, but she would be blind within half an hour.

“Raeln,” she began, slowing to a stop in the middle of the road, “do we go on, or go back? I’m not sure this was a good idea.”

The wolf wildling squinted in the direction they had been going, apparently understanding why she was asking. Turning back, he stared at the lights of Lantonne behind them. That was when Ilarra realized that they were past the halfway point between the two locations, putting them far closer to the village than the city. If a decision about where to go had to be made, she should have made it long before.

Shrugging, Raeln took the lead, heading toward the village somewhere in the distance. He kept glancing back at Ilarra as he walked, making sure she never fell more than a few steps behind. Luckily, the white portions of his fur, as well as his off-white loose clothing, made it relatively easy to see him, even as the light faded away behind the mountains to the west. Eventually, even that was not enough and Raeln took Ilarra’s hand, putting it on his tail to allow her to follow him more easily.

By the time they reached the first buildings, Ilarra had to keep her hand on Raeln to have any idea where he was. She only knew they had reached the buildings because Raeln walked up onto a wooden porch and then helped Ilarra find her footing. She had given little thought to the new moon rising faintly, but its lack of illumination made the journey all the more difficult.

“Can you see anything?” Ilarra asked and immediately felt stupid, realizing in the dark she could not see Raeln’s head move. She had no clue what his answer would be and guessed that he was giving her a look like she was stupid.

Leading her by the hand, Raeln brought her to a stop in front of what Ilarra thought to be a wooden door. The lack of lights from within made her wonder if they had arrived too late and might be turned away yet again.

Raising her hand overhead, Ilarra closed her eyes for a brief moment, letting her mind tug together strands of magic that flowed through the world around her. As the magic took shape, she felt her hand warm, and when she opened her eyes, the area was brightly lit, as though her hand had become a torch.

Raeln glowered at her, cocking an eyebrow as he nodded toward her hand.

“I have to concentrate the whole time,” she explained sheepishly. “It wouldn’t have lasted the whole walk. The moment I got tired or tripped, it would have vanished.”

Giving a soft “hrumph,” Raeln turned and banged on the old wooden door. The sound echoed, but there was no answer.

They stood on the porch for several minutes, Ilarra looking out into the darkness for any sign of a nearby building having lights or movement, while Raeln’s ears swiveled around, searching for sounds.

Finally, Raeln seemed to give up on politeness and gave the door a firm tug. With a creak, the entire thing came off the frame, hanging oddly from his hand on the handle. Raeln winced a little and carefully set aside the door and leaned into the building.

A second later, Raeln pulled his head back outside and shrugged at Ilarra. Waving her inside, he picked back up the door.

“We can’t just go in someone else’s house…” she objected, but stopped when Raeln gave her an annoyed glare.

Obediently slipping into the dark house, Ilarra realized why Raeln was so willing to intrude. The place was abandoned. In the dim light of her hand’s magic, she could see a few broken tables slid up against the far wall of the large common area, as though the place had once been a small tavern or inn. Steps at one side led to upstairs rooms and the ones she could see were missing their doors and remained dark and quiet as she walked into the main room.

Coming in behind her, Raeln took a moment to rest the door back on its frame and then picked up the few items he had managed to spare from Lantonne’s thieves. After looking around the room briefly, he went up the stairs, apparently picking a random room to disappear into.

Ilarra hurriedly followed Raeln, not really wanting to be left alone in the old building. She sincerely doubted there was much to fear so close to Lantonne, but had no desire to risk herself in the dark. It was probably foolish, but an instinctual fear of what might be hiding sped her steps and got her to the room Raeln had gone into that much quicker.

If the main room had been sparsely furnished, the bedrooms put it to shame. Two broken beds lay at odd angles where their legs had either splintered or actually fallen through rotted spots in the floorboards.

When Ilarra entered, Raeln was prodding at the floor with his bare paws, making sure it was solid. Soon satisfied, he motioned for her to enter as he slid their bags into one corner of the room near a grouping of collapsed cabinets. He followed her, wincing and treading carefully when his paws caused the floorboards to creak loudly.

Ilarra unrolled her only blanket and sat down on it in the middle of the room. Looking around again, she wondered just how long the place had been abandoned.

“Raeln?” she asked as her guardian was sitting down in front of the open door. “Has anyone been here recently?”

Sniffing, Raeln shook his head, but Ilarra could tell by his expression that he was not entirely sure..

“So we’re safe for now.”

Raeln gave her a skeptical stare and finished situating himself in front of the door, sitting cross-legged and facing out toward the main room.

“You always think we’re in danger.”

Raeln nodded and closed his eyes.

That would be the end of even trying to converse, Ilarra knew. When Raeln closed his eyes, he rarely was truly asleep but would rest quietly until she was ready to move on. Any sound would snap him awake, but he would not respond to her questions further, though she guessed he still heard what she was saying. Sometimes it felt like he was trying to make her stop talking, but she had no good way to scold him for doing so.

Ilarra released her concentration on the magical glow and her hand faded away slowly, making the room pitch black.

Laying down, Ilarra tried to sleep for a long time. Each time her mind was willing to drift, a pop or creak of the old wooden building would startle her. She eventually grew accustomed to it and fell asleep.

Her dreams that night were filled with worries about what her father would say when he found out that the tower of magic had turned her away.

*

Early the next morning—far earlier than Ilarra really would have wished—she woke with Raeln’s massive hand clamped over her mouth and jaw. She choked as she came to, having to shove at Raeln’s hand to move it off of her nose so that she could at least breathe. He refused to budge at first, but quickly seemed to realize that he was suffocating Ilarra and adjusted his grip, though he kept her mouth held shut.

Once she could think clearly and breathe through her nose, Ilarra focused on Raeln, then the room around them for some sign of what was happening. It did not take her long at all to realize that the once-quiet place was far noisier than she remembered.

Shouts and clattering sounds like someone was dragging furniture echoed through the structure. With each new crash of something being tossed about, Raeln snarled more openly, watching the doorway while he kept one hand on Ilarra’s face. He wanted to go out there, but he would not leave her alone.

Ilarra yanked Raeln’s hand away and sat up, grabbing what she felt was most essential among her belongings as swiftly as she could manage. Meanwhile, Raeln shifted closer to the door, where he could intercept anything coming in but not be seen from downstairs. Into Ilarra’s small backpack went her notes on magic, a pack with some food, and a waterskin. The rest would have to wait until they could find out what was happening.