CHAPTER FIVE

I t took me a moment to process his words, his captivating beauty at the forefront of my thoughts. When I finally snapped myself out of my trance, I spoke.

“You… you can take me to the Forest of Torment?” I asked with an embarrassing stutter.

“If you’re willing to pay,” he replied, no hint of emotion in his tone.

Of course. A handsome stranger wasn’t going to just swoop in and take me on a dangerous journey for free. And who knows what kind of criminal he may be. A dangerous one, surely.

I shifted slightly, straightening my posture and rebuilding my confidence that had slipped for a brief moment. “Name your price,” I answered.

The stranger looked down at the three drunken fools on the ground. The main one appeared unconscious while his two accomplices still groaned in pain. “Not here,” said the stranger. “Too many listening ears.”

Right. I better not let it slip how wealthy I was, or these three thugs might have another reason to come for me.

“Walk with me,” he added.

“Where to?”

“Away from here.”

I hesitated. “How do I know you won’t just attack me?”

“You don’t,” he answered a little too quickly. “But if I wanted to hurt you, I would have done so already.”

I supposed that was true.

“And seeing as I am likely the only person in Rimor who has been to the Forest of Torment, I presume you have little choice but to trust me.” He seemed very sure of himself.

Failing to hide the shock on my face, I said, “You’ve been there? And lived?”

He dipped his head, a dull, uninterested expression on his handsome face.

I crossed my arms, ready to call his bluff. “How can that be true? Those who make it never return.”

The man shrugged. “I guess I was just lucky.”

“Prove it.”

“No.”

My eyes narrowed. He had to be lying. I had no reason whatsoever to believe what he was saying. And yet, something deep within myself told me that he was trustworthy – or at the very least, that he wasn’t lying about the Forest.

He stood there, silently watching me, waiting for my response.

I sighed. “For some reason, I believe you. For now.” If he was going to show his arrogance, I would throw my own right back at him. “Lead the way,” I said, stepping over the bodies he so easily put on the ground only moments ago.

He nodded and turned down the alley, with me following closely. We walked in silence for maybe a few minutes before I finally decided to speak again.

“I guess I should thank you for intervening back there,” I told him. “Although I probably could have handled the three of them myself.” I wasn’t sure that was true, but I didn’t want him to think I was a helpless target.

The stranger turned his head to look at me. We made eye contact for a brief second before he faced forward again. “I don’t doubt that,” he stated. “I saw you hold your own in the alehouse. But you’re welcome.”

So he was in The Cracked Hoof with us, and didn’t just appear out of thin air in the alley like it seemed. “Then why did you intervene?” I asked, curious as to why he felt the need to come to my aid. Most hardened criminals wouldn’t have bothered, I thought.

“I watched them follow you out,” he said without turning to look at me this time. I could sense anger starting to emanate from him. “Before they walked out, I heard them talking about you. Let’s just say they did not have good intentions.” His tone was bitter yet calm, but a muscle in his jaw tightened.

I thought for a moment. “That was a noisy tavern,” I said. “You must have been standing pretty close to be able to hear them.” I may have sounded more accusatory than I wanted. But for all I knew, the whole hero-act was just that. An act. Then he would get me alone and do gods-know-what with me.

“I was close enough,” was all he said.

I frowned before pressing further. “I’m surprised I didn’t see you. You don’t look like you…fit in there.” I was referring to his decent clothes and clean appearance – something the other patrons lacked. He would have stood out to me, but I swore I didn’t see him when I entered.

“I’m not from here,” he said. “I just stopped at the closest place for a drink, and sat in the back.”

“If you sat at the back then how could you hear—”

“You ask a lot of questions,” he interrupted, irritation in his tone.

I glared at him. “I’m just trying to gage if I should truly trust you.”

His eyes flicked to mine, then to the street in front of us. “I walked up to the bar for another drink after you left. Then I heard the men talking.”

I went quiet, deciding it wasn’t a big enough deal to interrogate him further. Perhaps the hustle and bustle of the place made it easy to not take notice. There was a decent amount of people there, after all. Too many for me to take note of each and every one of them for the brief moment I was inside.

Another few minutes of silence went by, save for the sound of our boots hitting the cobblestone streets echoing off the stone walls of the buildings around us. Although the silence was tense, I was still enjoying the walk through Rimor. I hadn’t been able to walk the streets unreservedly for years. And without the ridiculous amount of guards that regularly surrounded me, I felt…free.

I continued to admire the intricate stonework of each building we passed. Most of the structures were small, with thatched roofs. These were likely homes for entire families, even though each building was just the size of my bedroom. Other, larger buildings that had banners or wooden signs out front indicated some sort of establishment – bakeries, shops, bath houses. I stared at every single one, wondering what they were like on the inside. Maybe one day, if my father ended his overprotective tyranny against me, I would be able to see.

It was a chilly night, and the later it became and the further we were from the Cracked Hoof, the less people there were wandering the streets. Other than a few homeless people sleeping on the street corners, it seemed the stranger and I were alone. This sent a shiver down my spine.

I broke the silence before the eerie realization could truly seep in and give me cold feet. “So you’ve truly been to the Forest of Torment?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“And you were able to navigate the labyrinth? And made it back alive?”

“Yes.”

“Was it dangerous?”

“Yes.”

He was a man of few words.

“How dangerous?”

He let air out through his nose, as if he were annoyed. “There is a reason the rumors surrounding the Forest are harsh – a reason it’s called the Forest of Torment . There are truth to those rumors and the name.”

I gulped. “And you’re willing to travel there again? With me?”

Why would he risk death and torment?

“Depends on how much you’re willing to pay,” he replied.

Ah, there it was. He’d risk it all for the right price.

I thought for a moment. “How much do you have in mind?”

He answered more quickly than I expected. “Four hundred gold pieces.”

I nearly stumbled when I heard him. “You must be mad,” I laughed. Four hundred gold was nearly all I brought with me, as I fit as much as I could into a few pouches that existed within my pack. Unless you were from Chatus, the Golden City, or you were incredibly wealthy, not many people had that kind of money. It was enough to live a lifetime in comfort.

He kept his gaze forward. “If I’m going to risk my life on a dangerous quest for someone I don’t know, the payment better be worth my life.”

He had a point.

How safe really was I with this man? I just watched him take out three grown men in the blink of an eye. Was I a fool? Was I about to accept a bargain that would get me killed?

I wondered how likely it was that he would just kill me and take the money now. We had been walking for a while, away from the bustling tavern. But in that time, we were alone in the dark streets of the city, and he hadn’t attempted to rob me yet.

My instincts somehow told me I could trust him, even if doing so wasn’t logical. Besides, where would I be able to find someone else who had been to the Forest of Torment? It seemed unlikely that I’d find anyone anytime soon.

Was running into him just pure luck? Were the gods on my side?

This was my one and only chance, I decided. I had to take it. Had to risk it. I only hoped that this strange man wasn’t full of shit. But I held onto that odd sense I had that he was truthful.

“Okay,” I sighed. “Four hundred gold. But I will only pay you when we make it there safely,” I told him.

“Half now, half when we get there,” he bargained.

“I’m not giving you anything right now,” I countered. I imagined giving him half now and him taking off with it, never to be seen again. I wanted to trust him, but I also wanted him to know I wasn’t a fool. “Half when we leave Rimor, half when we get there.”

“Deal,” he answered. “Give me two days to prepare for the trip and I’ll—‘”

“No!” I shouted.

He stopped walking and finally turned to look at me. I stopped as well while he stared at me skeptically.

“I’m sorry, I just… I need to leave before dawn,” I told him. I only had so much time before my father would discover my absence. And the moment he did, he’d probably send his entire army to find me. Delaying was not an option.

He looked at me curiously. “That doesn’t give me much time to prepare,” he said.

“We leave no later than dawn, or the deal is off.” I was not budging on this one.

The handsome stranger eyed me curiously. He seemed to have come to a stage of acceptance as he said, “Fine. I will meet you at the North Gates of Rimor at dawn.”

My body relaxed, releasing the tension it held as I thought I had blown my only chance at making it to the Forest of Torment. “Thank you,” I sighed. He only nodded in answer. “Shall we keep going?” I asked when he didn’t start walking again.

“We’re here,” he replied, gesturing at the building towards my right.

“Where is here?”

“The inn I’m staying at,” he answered.

My brows rose. So he wasn’t from Rimor.

“I see,” I said, recognizing that it was time to part ways for the night rather than interrogate him with more questions. But there was one important one I had yet to ask. “Can I have your name?” I couldn’t call him ‘handsome stranger’ forever.

“Elias,” he answered, his honey eyes staring into my emerald greens. I gulped. An alluring name for an equally alluring man.

“Pleasure, Elias. I’m…” I stopped myself. “Aura,” I finished, realizing that the world only knew me as Aurelia. Only Rose called me Aura, really. I only hoped Elias wouldn’t connect it with my full name.

Elias smirked, the first time I had seen him look anything but intimidating. “See you in a few hours, Aura,” he said.

“I look forward to working with you, Elias.” I held out my hand for him to shake.

He seemed to hesitate for a moment before returning the gesture. As our hands touched, I could have sworn I felt a jolt of energy pass between us, as if lighting struck from our touch. But the lightning wasn’t harmful. It was soft and warm and…alluring. The unexplainable sensation took me by surprise, but Elias gave no sign that he felt it too.

I let go and Elias turned to walk towards the inn’s entrance. “Get enough rest, Aura,” he said, my name sounding fitting on his tongue.

“You too,” I practically whispered back before turning and heading the opposite direction, eyes on my hand that momentarily touched his. Where our hands had met, I still felt a small tingly sensation and wondered if it was all in my head.

When I looked back up, I realized I had been aimlessly walking with no destination in mind. Add that to the last half hour of walking I did with Elias, and I realized I was utterly lost. A little ways ahead, I saw a sign on a street corner with pointed boards, and stepped over to it. Each board was directing towards a different business: Inn, Library, Carpenter, Market, Tavern . I read through them all, including the last one which someone had attempted to scratch away with a knife.

Theater .

I grinned. The theater where my uncle and I trained seemed like the perfect place to rest for the night, rather than risking an inn or public space where I could be recognized.

I followed the direction of the sign and eventually made it to the city of Oreross where I found the theater and headed inside. It felt strange being back here so soon, where I could still see the shuffle marks in the dust from our training session. I set my pack down and made a small bed behind the torn curtains of the stage.

In a few short hours, I would be making my way out of Rimor for the first time since my mother’s murder. I would travel with Elias, a mysterious and evidently dangerous stranger. My life was about to change forever. I didn’t know what the journey would entail, or what answers I would find. The days and weeks ahead were scary and unknown. And yet, that night I slept peacefully for the first time in months.