Questbound

Chapter 1-1

The carriage jerked sharply to a halt, making Yusumi’s doll drop from her hands to land on her papa’s worn bag of blacksmithing tools.

"Easy, easy," she heard him call to the horses. The animals snorted powerfully, stamping their solid hooves. What was going on? They couldn’t be at Xya yet, her papa had said they wouldn’t reach it for another half a day when they"d set out that morning, and the sun had barely moved since then.

The horses stilled, and she caught the sound of someone moaning. Not her papa, his voice was much deeper. But this voice…there was something strange about it. Another sound was mixed in – a gurgle, or an echo, maybe – she couldn’t tell which, but it made her skin prickle uncomfortably.

Standing on her seat, she leant across to look out of the carriage window, just in time to see her papa leap down from the driving seat and run over to a man sprawled on the ground a short distance from the horses" hooves. He paused, gazing around as if trying to figure out where the man had come from. She copied him.

They weren’t in a town, and she couldn’t see any villages nearby, either. Only an old windmill, crumbled and run down. She couldn"t imagine anyone wanting to live there, or even hide for a game. The stones looked far too loose for anything like that.

The weathered road was quiet too, and her papa hadn"t bellowed out any greetings to other drivers in hours, so she doubted the man had been dropped off by another carriage. Yet there he was, as if he’d surfaced from the ground like a mole.

Leaning further out, she saw that the man was writhing about, his food-stained tunic and patched hose covered in the dust his movements were clouding up from the earth. His skin was as pale as the sickly infant she’d seen in the last village they’d stayed at, and his eyes were completely grey, as though all the colour had been drained from them. They latched onto her, cold and intense...and hungry. Her breath caught nervously in her chest.

Her papa, noticing the man’s interest, turned to her. ‘It’s alright, Yusumi. Get back inside, we’ll be on our way again soon.’ His attention went back to the man. ‘Get up,’ he demanded, lending him a hand all the same. ‘There’s no way my horses could have even touched you, you"re too far away. Any injuries you have were caused by flinging yourself down, not by them.’

The man hissed back at him, muttering words that didn’t sound like any Yusumi knew. Perhaps he was from a distant land, like those in the tales the people from her home village whispered at night, the ones beyond Xylantria"s wastelands.

‘Sorry, friend, but I only speak Xylantrian,’ her papa said, his eyes hardening. But the man was still looking past him at Yusumi. Her papa inched to the side, cutting off his line of sight. ‘You’re far too interested in my daughter for my liking. Move, or I’ll be forced to move you myself," he ordered.

friendThe man’s only answer was to throw back his head and utter a high-pitched wailing. Yusumi clasped her hands over her ears in an attempt to cut off the terrible noise, but it was no good. It penetrated her mind, overtaking her every thought, and sent pain searing through her skull.

‘Papa! Make it stop! Please make it stop!’ she screamed.

Reacting quickly, he smashed a fist hard into the man"s lower jaw, the force tearing it away from the rest of his face. Only a single strip of flesh remained attached, leaving it dangling uselessly down his front. There was no blood, not even a drop.

‘What in Xylantria…’ Her papa"s voice faltered, and he threw a concerned look towards her. Then his eyes widened. ‘No!’

No!She barely had time to register his panic before a pair of cold, damp hands grabbed her from behind and plucked her from the carriage.

She struggled against them in every way she knew how; biting, kicking, clawing; hardly sparing a thought at the grotesque way her captor"s skin split apart as they endeavoured to keep hold of her.

From the corner of her eye, she saw that the man with the broken jaw had crept up on her papa and grabbed him around the neck, preventing him from getting to her. But not for long. Ducking down and twisting, he broke free of the man"s grasp while simultaneously catching him in a double arm lock. Two sickening cracks later, he"d pulled them out of their sockets. With a final blow at the man"s sternum, he pushed him back into one of the horses. Startled, the animal reared up and kicked the man in the head, splitting his skull.

By this time, Yusumi had all but broken free herself, and with a last mighty kick, she dropped from her captor’s grasp. ‘Papa!’ she called, reaching for him, but suddenly an entire horde of the strange men appeared, swarming between them.

‘Run, Yusumi!’ her papa roared, launching himself at them to give her time. She fled, heading for the ruined windmill. Footsteps pounded behind her, but she didn’t dare look back. Twice, her feet caught on broken blocks embedded in the ground and sent her staggering forwards. But she scrambled upright again and kept going. Reaching the windmill at last, she hauled herself up one side of its partially collapsed wall and started climbing, grateful that the rough stone gave her plenty of edges to grip hold of.

As she neared the area with the most damage, preparing to shinny around to where the blocks continued, she finally spared a glance behind her. One of the men had reached the wall, yet he barely got two inches high before a large lump of stone sailed through the air and smashed into his head. He collapsed, unmoving.

Reversing the stone’s arc with her eyes, Yusumi spotted her papa, fearlessly attacking as many of the men as he could. Yet the horde was swamping him, with more appearing every second. They tore at his limbs and face with vice-like fingers. Despite his efforts, there were simply too many. He managed to cast her one last glance, and then was dragged under. She knew in that moment, as her heart felt like it was being crushed, that there was no escape for him.

But there was no time to scream.

Already, the men were breaking apart, now covered in fresh blood, and making their way towards her. She began climbing again, hoping that the edges of the blocks she so easily gripped were too small for an adult’s hands to grasp properly.

Yet the men leapt up the wall as though it were a specially built climbing tower. She went faster, doubling her efforts, and reached a slight edge surrounding the windmill"s roof. Now where could she go?

Next to her, the mill"s tattered sails hung motionless. If she jumped onto one, her weight would start them moving again and she could swing to the ground and flee. She looked back at the men, almost upon her. That was it, she had no other choice. She had to jump.

Gathering up as much courage as she could, she leapt at the nearest sail, clutching tightly to the latticed wood under the torn cloth. The sails creaked into motion; she was going to make it!

Snap!

Snap!The sound tore through the air as the sail broke in two and fell hard to the ground, Yusumi along with it. Her body went numb. No shooting pain from the impact, no sting from the scrapes on her palms…there was nothing. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t see. She could barely even breathe.

The clumsy thumping of many feet sounded around her, followed by the smell of putrid breath close to her face. Were they checking to see if she was still alive? She found herself holding what little breath she’d drawn. She wasn’t sure why; surely it was all over now anyway?

Yet after a few minutes, they moved away. Were they really leaving her for dead?

Her head swam at the thought and she slipped in and out of consciousness, not knowing if seconds had passed or hours. Eventually, her mind cleared and her ears sharpened to a new sound. Horses" hooves and the groaning of carriage wheels.

The noise eased, and the horrified voice of a woman carried across to her. ‘My goodness! What…what in Xylantria has happened here?’

happened‘Who knows, Your Majesty? Bandits, perhaps, or wolves. Maybe even a family quarrel,’ a man replied. His voice sounded hollow, like it was coming from somewhere else entirely.

‘There are no wolves in these parts, Lord Razay. And even if there were, I doubt they would leave a meal half-finished. I might be inclined to agree with bandits, but this carriage and its horses remain untouched," the queen replied. "As for a family quarrel…that is even less likely. They don’t resemble one another at all. Look at these pale men, look at their clothes! They’re patched and worn, they obviously haven’t been washed in months. Yet this man,’ she said, hesitating. An icy chill spread through Yusumi as she realised the queen was talking about her papa. ‘This man’s clothes may not be finery, but they are well cared for, and what...remains of his muscles reveal him to have at least been well nourished."

‘You’re very observant, Your Majesty, and surely have a much stronger stomach than I. My eyes would never have picked up such detail from so grotesque a sight. Perhaps you should take to investigation in your spare time, then we might find out who stole all the fine wines from the palace cellar last week,’ Lord Razay replied. His words were met with a smattering of laughter from somewhere close to him.

‘Do you really think that this is the time for jests, Lord Razay?’ the queen said icily. ‘Something terrible has occurred here. Lives have been lost, yet you wish to make light of it?’

‘My sincerest apologies, Your Majesty,’ he said, though there was no trace of it in his voice. ‘You are correct, as always. I shall have the guards dig suitable graves to bury these people, and then we shall be on our way again.’

‘One moment, my lord!’ another man cried.

‘What is it?’ Lord Razay snapped.

There was a pause, like the man was hesitating. ‘There may be a child about. I found this in the carriage.’

‘A doll?’ the queen said. ‘Lord Razay, have the Royal Guard search these ruins for a child. If there’s any possibility that they"re still here, then we need to find them.’

‘As you wish, Your Majesty,’ Lord Razay said, notably irritated. ‘Men, you heard your queen. Explore the ruins and the surrounding area for a child. If you find any sign of one, report back immediately.’

wishA hundred feet moved off in search, vibrating across the ground. Briefly, Yusumi noted that some sensation must be coming back to her body for her to feel that. It was a good sign, but she couldn"t give in to relief just yet.

She waited, her heart beating faster as she wondered if the guards would spot her. She tried to move her lips into the shape of words. They wouldn’t respond, and only a wheeze left her throat, masked by the breeze. Water formed in the creases of her eyes, but the muscles in her face would not let her cry.

Then the remains of the wooden sail around her creaked, snapping apart even more. Heavy footsteps approached, pausing momentarily before gingerly coming closer. Cold metal touched her skin, clinking. Chain mail, and by the pungent smell of it, freshly oiled as well.