Artavus Quill

Felix started to leave the freaky BDSM voyeuristic sex-party murder cabin, opening the door. He kept the couple in his peripheral vision and leaned his head outside, club ready in case the robed man was attempting to flank him.

Nope.

Felix instantly spotted him riding away on an old, rickety cart pulled by a water buffalo. The priest-looking man jerked and slapped the reins, glancing wildly over his shoulder at Felix, but the beast lumbered onward at its own pace.

Where the fuck is he off to? Felix wondered.

The man was heading farther southeast along the river. If he had an ox cart, that meant there was some kind of road nearby. The real question was whether he was running away from something…

Or toward something.

“Fuck this.”

Felix turned back into the house. The young woman was still pressed into the corner, and the naked, bloodied man cowered on the floor. Felix waved his hooked club through the air.

“Answers. Now.”

He pointed the club directly at the man’s face, then at the robed woman with the split skull, and back again.

“Who was that?”

“Th-that was a cleric,” the man whimpered, sounding like he might start crying again.

“Cleric? Like a religious person? Why were they here?”

“Ohhh.” The man brightened. “To oversee our union.”

Felix glanced at the young woman. She did not appear to share his enthusiasm. In fact, she looked almost offended that he was volunteering information.

“Like a wedding?”

“Wedding?”

“When two people swear to be with each other for the rest of their lives.”

At that, the young woman nearly choked trying to suppress a laugh. The naked man looked back at her, hurt and confused by her reaction.

“Union is fucking,” the woman said plainly.

Felix blinked.

“It looked a lot like something else. Like he was into it, you weren’t, and they just liked to watch.” He shrugged. “Again, you do you. So I wrecked your sex party. Sorry about that.”

She rolled her eyes.

“The clerics have to witness every union. They say too many children means people starve. If a woman gets with child without permission, everyone pays for it.”

She studied him.

“Are you really him?”

“Him? I don’t understand.”

“The forbidden one. The one the clerics always talk about. Telling us to watch for him and tell them if we see you.”

She looked him up and down.

“Don’t know how we’re supposed to do that if we don’t know what he looks like. They say you’re dangerous. Like a demon or something. That every time you show up, lots of bad things happen.”

Her eyes moved to his bare feet.

“You don’t look that dangerous to me. You don’t even have shoes.”

Felix looked down.

“I thought you were being raped by this guy and was going to try to help.”

“Oh?” she said. “You were trying to steal my union?”

“Uhhhhh. Maybe later? No, I mean—”

Felix stopped himself.

“No. Anyway, this lady here pulled a weapon and charged me, so I defended myself. I didn’t mean to kill her. I’m not a monster demon guy. I’m just a guy who isn’t really sure how I got here.”

She squinted at him.

“Where do you think ‘here’ is, mister? Do you have any friends with you?”

“I don’t really know where I am, but it’s definitely not where I was yesterday.”

Felix thought about the others in the cocoons. He hadn’t recognized the woman eaten by the ants, or the naked man who had fallen from the cliff. Maybe the others waiting up there would be strangers too.

“Where is that other guy going?”

“Probably back to the city to tell the rest of the clerics that you’re here. And that you bashed her skull in with…”

Her eyes dropped to his weapon.

“Is that a giant bug arm?”

She shook her head.

“I’m sorry to break this to you, mister, but I think you might be the one they’re always talking about. You sure you’re not dangerous?”

“I swear. I’m just hungry and lost, and I messed up. I’ll just go.”

He gestured awkwardly toward the corpse.

“Do you need me to, like, get rid of her or something?”

“No. You could probably just leave her there.”

Lydia waved dismissively.

“We’re all going to have to leave in a few days anyway. When the clerics come back, they’ll probably capture everyone and take her body back to the city.”

“City? What city? I’m so confused.”

“You’re confused?” Lydia muttered. “I was about to—”

She stopped herself.

“Never mind. Look, if you’re an evil demon and I send you away, how do I know you aren’t going to come back and kill us in our sleep? I would feel much better if I could keep an eye on you. Do you have somewhere you’re staying?”

Felix unconsciously looked toward the ant cave again.

I need to stop doing that.

He noticed Lydia watching him. She clearly had no idea what he was looking at, but whatever memory had surfaced had changed his expression.

“Tell you what.”

She stood and looked at the naked man.

“Kyle, go put your clothes on. We’ll find some time later.”

Then she turned back to Felix.

“I’m Lydia.”

Kyle practically leapt from the floor, covering his privates with both hands. He extended one hand toward Felix.

“Nice to meet you.”

Felix looked at the offered hand.

“I’m not much of a toucher, but thanks. Nice to meet you too. Again, sorry to interrupt.”

Kyle glanced back at Lydia and gave her a smoky-eyed look before trotting out the door.

“How many others live in this village?” Felix asked.

Lydia eyed him suspiciously.

Finally, she answered.

“It’s just us now. Used to be a lot more. Things have gotten harder. Less food. The others left.”

She looked around.

“But there’s enough for Kyle and me, so we’re staying.”

“Until you can’t,” Felix said.

She looked at him.

“Exactly.”

“Aren’t you afraid of being attacked? Or getting sick?”

She frowned.

“Sick?”

“Like a cold or something.”

“Oh. We have blankets for that.”

“No, I mean an infection. Like if you cut yourself and germs get inside.”

Again, confusion crossed her face.

“You’ve never gotten sick? Had an infection? What about wild animals?”

“I’m not sure I understand what you mean by sick. And what would attack us?”

She shrugged.

“Other than you or the clerics?”

She looked toward the river.

“The thing I worry about is eating. When the fish are breeding, they don’t take bait, but they’re easy to net. The problem is once they’re gone, it’ll be many days before more return.”

She sighed.

“We catch and smoke as much as we can, then take them to the city to trade and wait for the next catch.”

“Well, dang.”

Felix rubbed the back of his head.

“If the clerics come back and take everyone, that’ll probably mess things up for you.”

“Why would they take us?”

“Because they think we saw you. And if you aren’t here, and we’re still alive, they’ll think we helped you.”

Her expression hardened.

“They’ll have questions. Eventually, they’ll torture us. Then they’ll kill us.”

“Holy shit. Really?!?”

Felix looked genuinely concerned.

“That’s stressful.”

Lydia shrugged.

“Yeah. I’m actually not that upset that you bashed that psycho’s face in.”

She glanced at the corpse.

“Do you know how hard it is to get Kyle aroused with those two creeps watching?”

Felix stared.

“Don’t judge me,” she continued. “But it was kind of hot getting to punch him in the face with two priests in the room. A little liberating.”

Felix looked back at the body.

“Are they really that bad?”

Lydia shrugged.

“That’s just what I’ve heard. The only time anyone really deals with them is when they’re being watched or taken.”

She looked at the corpse.

“I was actually surprised to see one of them bleed. They walk around like they can’t be touched.”

Her eyes moved back to Felix.

“But you touched the fuck out of that one.”

A grin slowly spread across Felix’s face.

“I promise you this: I’ll never hurt you or Kyle. If you’ll let me help, I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you both safe.”

He extended his hand.

Lydia stared at it for a long moment.

Then she slapped him across the face.

“Done.”

She turned toward the doorway.

“I’ll take you to your room.”