Artavus Quill

The cottage Lydia showed Felix was basically identical to the one he’d left, minus the corpse.

Evening had settled in, and Felix was feeling every second of the torturous day. He dropped his gear on the floor, stripped down to his pants, and passed out almost immediately.

He woke to the sounds of chopping wood and roosters.

Wearily, he rose and staggered to the door. The morning light was blinding for a moment as his eyes adjusted. Lydia was beside the cooking gazebo, chopping wood for the stone kitchen, while Kyle hung a fresh catch of trout over the smoker.

Felix noticed the sun was already high in the eastern sky. He’d slept much longer than he’d intended.

But yesterday had been a lot to process.

This morning felt like waking up on a camping trip. The smell of eggs and the low babbling of the river stood in strange juxtaposition to the violence of his experience so far.

It was… nice.

“Come and eat,” Lydia ordered. “Seems like you were pretty tired.”

“I must have been,” Felix mumbled, rubbing his eyes as he staggered toward the food.

Kyle had a big, stupid grin on his face.

Felix looked at Lydia. She now wore a sheepish expression.

Good for them, he thought.

He sat on a large wooden stump beside a stone slab that served as one of the counters beneath the gazebo. The breeze was pleasant.

“This is a really pleasant place you two have.”

The other two looked stricken for a moment. Then, after looking around the village, their expressions softened.

“We’ve been here for years,” Lydia said. “It’s home. Not really looking forward to leaving. But we’ll survive. Hopefully we’ll make it back before the ants take over the place.”

“Ants?”

Felix’s voice came out a little higher than he’d intended.

“Yeah. Big ones. Like that club you always carry.” Lydia nodded toward his weapon. “They come through every few years if food is scarce somewhere else, I guess. It’s a pain keeping them out, but we’ve learned to keep the food in the center of the village. If they cross the spikes, we do what we can to fight them back. Once they realize it’s not worth the effort, they leave.”

“Oh.”

Felix stared at her.

“That’s happened here before? With you two?”

“There were more of us here last time. Before they left, we reinforced the border. That’s helped with the lone scavengers.”

She picked up a plate.

“Do you want some smoked trout and eggs?”

Felix’s mouth immediately began watering.

“That would be outstanding.”

He accepted the clay plate.

“Not to challenge your hospitality, but why are you both being so nice to me?”

Lydia returned to chopping wood. A few seconds passed before she answered.

“Not sure, really. You seemed intimidating at first, but you don’t seem mean. You looked more scared than anything. It was late. You were tired. I’d hope someone would help me if I were in a position like yours.”

She shrugged.

“Whatever that position is.”

“That’s really kind of you both. I feel bad about the way I busted in. It was a misunderstanding.”

Lydia blushed slightly.

“Well, in that department, turns out you helped.”

She glanced toward Kyle, who was listening with his back to them.

“We weren’t looking forward to having those robed freaks watch us doing it. Kind of hard to get in the mood.”

Felix raised an eyebrow.

“It turned out to be a better evening than expected, so thank you for that.”

She picked up another piece of wood.

“Unfortunately, I’m not sure we have too much time before Kyle and I have to be somewhere else. I’d really recommend you do the same. It’s about a three-day trek to the city, so five days there and back in a hurry seems about right.”

“I’m really confused about that part. What do they want with me?”

“Maybe nothing. But the lady looked like she thought you were the evil one they always ramble on about. Not saying she was right, but you do seem pretty out of place, and you can’t answer basic questions.”

Lydia pointed toward his weapon.

“Oh, yeah. And you bashed her face off with a fucking bug part.”

She shook her head.

“Her partner seemed pretty convinced as he was running away. So my bet is that he’s going to tell all his cult buddies that the devil is back, and they’re going to come try to kill you.”

She looked at Felix.

“If we’re in the way, they’ll use us and then kill us too. I’ve seen it done. Normally it’s just some innocent traveler they kill.”

Her eyes moved over him.

“But you have a different look to you.”

Felix didn’t respond. Instead, he concentrated on his breakfast, using it as an excuse to change the subject.

He could feel the other two watching him.

When he finished, Felix carried his plate to the river to wash it. Kyle handed him what was left of a bar of soap and a rag.

“We’ll need to talk about it if you stay,” Kyle said quietly. “Is that okay with you? If not, I can tell Lydia you had to be on your way, and she and I will figure out how to handle the clerics.”

Felix scrubbed the plate.

“Be straight with me. If they come back and I’m not here, what happens?”

Kyle was quiet for a moment.

“Nothing good.”

“And if I stay?”

“Still not good.”

Felix rinsed the plate in the river.

“I have a lot of questions about where I think I’m going. Would you be willing to answer some questions for me if I do the same?”

Kyle considered him.

“Let me talk to her. We can bring it up again at dinner if you’re still around.”

“I can plan to be here for dinner.”

Felix handed him the plate.

“Thanks, Kyle. Is there anything I can help with while I’m here?”

Kyle looked toward the river.

“Fish.”

He nodded toward the racks, nets, and boats.

“Lots of fish.”