Continued from Part 1 –
Sage continued to roll, powered by the wind, until he got as far away as he could. He then jumped up onto his feet and ran as hard as he had ever run in his life. The sandstorm was blinding, and he could barely see his destination. He ran low to the ground pushing through the wind with desperation. He didn’t stop until he reached the outcropping of rocks with the cave. He didn’t even slow down once he entered the cave. When he tried to stop, he slid across the hard flood past Toble. Then stumbled, rolled, and smashed into the far wall.
Toble sighed and sat down on a rock.
“Well, at least you’re alive,” said Toble.
Sage rubbed his head as he sat up. His skin was raw, his lip was bleeding, he had a black eye, his hand had a huge gash, and his clothes were rags. He glanced around the cave as the wind howled more intensely.
“Yeah,” said Sage. “I guess I’m alive.”
“Were you actually going to join Turmeric?” asked Toble.
“Blah!” said Sage. “I was trying to make the girl angry enough to attack me.”
“You’re a moron,” said Toble. “When did you learn that move?”
“Between kissing Rosy and her father attacking me with a knife,” said Sage. “I don’t know why they get so angry. I haven’t actually done anything more than kiss a girl.”
“You’ve done a lot of kissing,” said Toble as he got up and cut the rope off Sage’s hands. “You also have a reputation that says differently. You need to start learning the power of a reputation.”
Sage rubbed his head again.
“I might have a hard head, but some things are getting through. I promise you,” said Sage. “Now what?”
“We leave,” said Toble with a sigh as he stood up.
Sage followed as Toble lit a torch made of debris in the cave and flint from his pocket. Then they wandered deep into the cave.
“Do you know where this leads?” asked Sage.
“We have lived here five years,” said Toble. “I do try to make sure I always have a way out.”
They continued to travel deep into the earth. Sage told Toble all that happened after Toble had turned into a tree as they walked through a narrow passage.
“We won’t be able to stay in one place anymore,” said Toble. “We know that Turmeric is searching for you.”
“The Troll will take care of Turmeric,” said Sage.
“No,” said Toble. “Turmeric will be able to fight the Troll. If he didn’t think so, he would have run.”
“So, then what?” asked Sage. “The new government rules the nine nations. There isn’t anywhere Turmeric can’t find me. Am I not exiled from my exile?”
“We will just have to keep traveling,” said Toble. “I have no other answers.”
Sage swallowed. His stomach growled.
“And do what?” asked Sage. “I won’t be able to learn a trade or get married or anything.”
Toble paused and turned to Sage.
“Is that what you want?” he asked the youth. “You weren’t pursuing those things when you had the chance. You were just tormenting girls.”
Sage frowned.
“I thought they liked it,” said Sage. “Honestly. You know I like helping people out. The girls said they liked being kissed and held. You should see how they smiled and giggled.”
“Were you helping them out?” said Toble. “Is that why I risked my neck to save you? You are only helping people when their lives are better after you leave them. You stopped helping anyone other than girls two years ago. I am not sure if you are the same person as the boy I knew.”
Sage walked on quietly as he pondered this for the next hour. The winding path eventually led them up again into a cave similar to the one they entered. The sandstorm was slowing down, and then they had to figure out what to do next.
***
They ended up northwest of where they had settled. They left the cave to find a small Nomad village of Gnomes. Sage was able to find some work carrying stone to repair the buildings damaged by the sandstorm. He earned a silver coin which they spent on food. That night they slept in the open by a campfire.
Sage continued to ponder Toble’s words and his ruined friendships in the Sprite village. That wasn’t the person he wanted to be. His father and mother would have agreed with Toble. He wondered what could he possibly do with his life now. He wouldn’t be able to stay in one place until Turmeric was dead. What trade could a person do while traveling and hiding?
Toble and Sage continued to find odd jobs to do for the next few days before moving on to another town. As they traveled from town to town looking for work and buying necessities, Sage began to find more to do other than just paid jobs. In one human village, Sage helped repair a cart for an old widow. Then he climbed a palm tree to fetch a boy’s ball. It was little things, but he liked how it made him feel. It was nice when people smiled at him rather than always having an angry father trying to kill him.
After a month of traveling and working, they were able to buy some new clothes and some supplies that they carried in rucksacks. Sage still found he like girls, but he learned how to flirt more subtly so that a woman actually still had a smile when he left.
“Sage,” said Toble as they approached a large town. “I need to get some news in the tavern. Can you stay out of trouble for a while?”
Sage smiled broadly.
“I haven’t been in trouble in over a month.”
“I know,” said Toble. “That’s what worries me.”
Sage shrugged and glanced around the market as Toble entered the tavern. The broad market held more imported items than nearly any other village he had ever been to. The awnings of the many busy booths lined the market street in a colorful display, like a puked up box of paints. The market was filled with all kinds of Nomads of every race, shoulder to shoulder, in a quest for the perfect over-priced purchase. Merchants shouted out what they sold with promises of excellent prices and better sales than their cheating pigged-faced neighbor.
Sage stopped at a booth that held handcrafted items from Vervain. Many of the items held vague memories of his distant childhood. Had he only been in the desert for five years? The porcelain plate and hand-painted maps reminded him of the palace. It had been years since he had seen lace, silk, or even a fork.
“These are beautiful, no?” said the old mixed-blood woman who was selling them. “They are unique, and the world will never see the like again.”
“Really?” said Sage glancing up at her. “Why?”
“Don’t you know?” asked the woman. “Vervain was burned to the ground fire years ago. No one has lived there since.”
Sage’s face grew pale.
“Really?” asked Sage as his mouth went dry. “Was everyone killed?”
“Of course,” said the old woman. “Men, women, children. Rich and poor. The whole city either joined the army or was slaughtered. The world has never seen such a massacre before or since.”
Sage turned away from the booth feeling sick and began to wander. He had seen his mother get killed. Toble had witnessed his father’s murder. They had then escaped the city soon after that. Sage remembered having wanted to stay and fight, but Toble had said it would be impossible. An eleven-year-old boy stood no chance against an invading army. This was the first time he had learned that everyone had been slaughtered, all the kids he knew at the royal school, the nobility, the townsfolk, all of them. Somehow, he thought that they would have just carried on without him like always, just under the new government.
Sage sat at the village well. He breathed in deeply, reliving his past. He wanted to do something about all of it. His life was continually ruined over and over again but a fate determined to squash him into the ground like a roach by a phobic homemaker.
“What are you doing here?” came a booming voice.
Sage’s eyes widen as he spotted Jessica’s father. The Sprite man looked angry as he pointed his finger directly at Sage.
“Have you chased my daughter all the way here? Are you determined to ruin her?” shouted the man as he pushed through the crowd towards Sage. “I will pulverize you with my bare hands!”
“I didn’t do anything!” Sage muttered to himself before jumping up and running into the crowd.
Sage heard the man’s voice calling out for him to stop. Random merchants reached out to stop him thinking he was a thief. Sage avoided them, dodging attempts to stop him. Soon a chorus of “stop thief” echoes behind him.
“I didn’t do anything!” said Sage glancing around quickly to find the tavern where Toble was at.
Sage soon found it and rushed inside. He found Toble at the bar talking to the barkeeper over a mug of brewed cinnamon tonic.
“We’ve got to go,” said Sage as he grabbed Toble’s arm.
Toble sighed as he looked at Sage.
“I didn’t do anything!” said Sage. “Jessica’s father saw me wandering the market and started to chase me.”
Toble gulped down his drink, paid for it, and they quickly rushed out of town.
“Sage, you are a magnet for trouble,” said Toble when they were far enough away that no one could see them.
“I’ve been good,” said Sage. “I am trying to turn over a new leaf or twig or whatever the saying is.”
“That’s not what I mean,” said Toble. “Jessica’s father was a problem, but I found out that Turmeric has put a price on your head. Fliers are being delivered to every town.”
“What?” said Sage as he paused mid-step. “That means I can’t go anywhere without someone after me. Now, no matter how much we travel, I’ll get discovered anyways.”
Toble turned towards the young man and nodded.
“Yes,” said Toble with a sigh. “It doesn’t matter how good you become, trouble will find you from now on. I have no idea what we can do about it. We have been hiding as well as we could these past five years, but now…”
Sage ran his hand through his brown hair and glanced around the desert. He loved it here, but now it didn’t make any sense to stay.
“Well, if trouble is going to find me either way, then perhaps we should make a good reason for it,” said Sage.
Toble raised an eyebrow.
“More girls?”
Sage shook his head with a serious expression.
“No, Toble,” said Sage. “You keep talking about the fact that I should think about my reputation. Well, my reputation worldwide is that I’m an enemy to the government. You weren’t the only one who learned something. I found out that Vervain had been burned to the ground and everyone killed. What kind of government does that? What kind of people slaughter women and children?”
“We live in a dark world,” said Toble gravely. “We have had much news for a while, but I haven’t heard anything good.”
“Yes, well, I intend to do something about it,” said Sage forming first with his hands. “If they are going to hunt me down, then I am going to give them a reason to.”
Toble studied Sage’s face.
“For a moment, you looked like your father,” said Toble a little in awe. “What do you have in mind?”
Sage relaxed and stood up taller with a smirk.
“We find any person that the government is abusing and stop them,” said Sage.
“There are thousands of people who are being abused, enslaved, and executed each day, Sage. You can’t save them all,” said Toble. “Believe me. I spent most of my life trying to end slavery, and now even more people are enslaved then ever before.”
“No, I can’t save everyone, but I can save one,” said Sage with a smile. “And then perhaps another one. Who knows where it’ll lead? After all, I have nothing better to do. I have no trade and no future. Why not help someone who does? Then if I die, I’ve done something that some girl might think is pretty hot.”
Toble grabbed the youth by the shoulders and embraced him as his eyes watered up.
“Sage, so help me, I will follow you in every rescue,” said old Toble. “Your father would be proud.”
“My father would dirty his britches with all the trouble I’ll be causing,” said Sage.
Toble busted out laughing as he wiped the tears from his eyes.
“That too,” said Toble.
They continued to travel north into the country of Samodivas, the homeland of the Huldra. Sage and Toble traveled with their faces covered by their keffiyeh and stayed away from crowds. The luscious forested nation was easy to wander compared to the desert. The villages of wood buildings were close together, no more than half a day’s travel apart. It was easy to catch meat for dinner, and odd jobs were more varied. Once they entered the country, they visited the taverns for news and work. Sage had his first taste of both wine and strong cinnamon tonic. He also learned how to get news and work by himself. Toble had to teach him, because while they were in Samodivas, Toble would only be safe posing as Sage’s slave. Sage had to start pretending he was a man in his early twenties. It wasn’t too hard. He was tall and more muscular than the other Huldra teens his age. The desert had equipped him better for this life than he had anticipated.
It took weeks, but they learned about a small underground movement who met to oppose the current government. Sage couldn’t learn anything about how to reach them or how to join. Instead, he learned about a scheduled execution for the underground’s current leader.
“Serves him right,” said the Huldra barkeeper as he was cleaning the bar with a rag. “They just cause trouble. Every time there’s trouble soldiers come into town and start taking stuff. If they would just do what they’re told like the rest of us, then we would have peace.”
“What kind of trouble do they cause?” asked Sage as he sipped his cinnamon tonic.
Toble stood behind Sage holding his bag as they had seen other slaves do. Only two other people in the tavern had slaves. Both of them were doing the same thing.
“The underground free prisoners and slaves mostly,” said the barkeeper. “Violent bunch. Sometimes they steal tax money or whatever. Dante is the name of their leader. He’ll be killed in Kilgore next week. Then we’ll have some peace and quiet. They aren’t anything without him. He’s their brain. A born nobleman who has had his property taken away for treason. Some say he’s even a cousin to the king of Samodivas, not like that means anything anymore. The world government tells the king what to do anyway. With Dante gone, the underground will go away, and we’ll have some peace and quiet.”
“Sure thing,” said Sage as he sipped his drink, “because the soldiers don’t do anything to cause problems.”
Toble kicked Sage’s foot, but Sage just smirked at him.
“Nothing too bad,” said the barkeeper. “I’m not saying they are perfect. I just don’t like unnecessary trouble.”
“I hear you,” said Sage.
He finished his drink and paid. Then he left the tavern with Toble following behind.
“So, we go to Kilgore,” whispered Sage.
“That’s a big first rescue,” whispered Toble. “Kilgore is the capital. It will be the biggest city in Samodivas and will be crawling with soldiers.”
“Then they won’t expect anything,” said Sage. “We just need to find out more about the execution and how it’s going to happen.”
***
Sage stood near the wooden platform in the middle of Kilgore’s massive market square where the execution was to happen. The city of waddle and dob building towered three stories tall around the square. Uneven stone roads led to and away from the square like a drunk spider’s web. Horses, carriages, mules, carts, were parked in odd places. The wooden market stalls were trying to sell food and souvenirs to the crowd. Entertainers, jugglers, puppeteers added to the deafening volume in the square. The enormous bustling city was full of thousands of people crowded shoulder to shoulder to watch the show or execution, depending on who you asked. There weren’t even this many people in the entirety of the Nomad desert. Sage remove his keffiyeh to breathe, but the smell of body order was overwhelming.
An awning was set up on a second wooden stage for Samodiva’s royal family, the nobility, and Turmeric to sit and watch the executions above the crowd, noise, and smells. Sage had found out that these structures were less than five years old and in continual use. Huldra soldiers in black uniforms stood posted all around the market. The imposing royal castle sat on a hill inside the gated city casting a feeling of being watched over the exhibition. Sage could hear the sound of the procession from the castle hill approaching the platform. Trumpets blared, and soldiers shouted for the crowd to make way for the prisoner. The crowd began to murmur in anticipation.
The black-haired middle-aged man being pulled in a tiny cart had his hands bound with rope behind his back. His face held bruises, and his clothes were rags, but he stood to his full height with his eyes straight ahead like a king. Sage smirked in appreciation of the dignity of this man. He just looked like a natural-born leader.
The cart stopped near the execution platform, and the man was dragged from the cart by a pair of Huldra soldiers. A third soldier followed behind as they climbed the wooden stair up to the stage. The man, Dante, was forced to kneel at a block of wood set in the middle of the stage. The third soldier then unrolled a long parchment and read out a list of charges that no one could hear of the continual roar of the murmuring crowd.
Sage glanced around to see where the soldiers stood posted. Two were at the corners of the wooden stage, and a group surrounded the monarch and his companions. Another group was with the cart. The reading the charges continued on until a couple of people shouted for them to get on with the execution.
When the list of charges was finally finished being read, the soldier turned to look at Turmeric. Turmeric nodded in approval. The soldier rolled up the paper threw it down and drew his sword.
“You!” shouted a booming voice from a few yards behind Sage. “You’re the one who accosted my daughter! I’m going to kill you!”
The whole crowd grew silent at the odd interruption. Even the soldiers on the stage looked up to see where the voice was coming from.
Sage turned around to see a massive Huldra man pointing his finger at him. Sage’s eyes grew wide.
“Now!” shouted Sage. “I didn’t do anything!”
Toble rolled his eyes and moved away into the crowd.
The man rushed towards Sage pushing through the crowd. Sage glanced around quickly for an escape. He rushed to the platform and jumped onto the stage just as the huge man nearly reached him. The startled soldiers just stood gaping at the situation. The soldier with the sword hesitated, but then began to move forward again to do the execution. The colossal man chasing Sage didn’t slow down though. He drew a sword and rushed at Sage onto the stage. Sage grabbed the sword from the executioner’s hand and blocked the blow from the Huldra father. The whole crowd erupted in chaos. Some wanted Sage to go away. Others were thrilled for the pre-show show. Sage and the colossal huldra man exchanged another blow which knocked Sage to the ground. Dante took the convenient distraction and dived off the back of the stage.
“Come with me,” said Toble from the ground as he sliced the man’s rope around his hands.
The underground leader didn’t pause to ask questions but rushed off with Toble into the chaos. Dante and Toble soon disappeared into the mass of people observing Sage’s fight.
Soldiers soon came to their stupefied senses. A couple of soldiers pursued the underground leader. The others looked around trying to figure out what they should do.
“That’s Sage Goliad!” shouted Turmeric standing from his seat. “Guards seize him! Don’t let him escape! Where’s Dante? Who let him get away?”
Sage was still sword fighting the angry Huldra man while rolling around on the stage dodging his blows when he saw the two soldiers start toward him. Sage rolled off the front of the stage. Then Sage pushed through the crowd to escape in the opposite direction of Dante and Toble.
“No!” shouted the Huldra father. “I won’t let you get away!”
He jumped off the stage to go after Sage. The soldiers followed the man searching the crowd for where Sage went.
“There he is!” cried the Huldra father as he pushed forward.
The soldiers helped the father get through the crowd and followed after him. The crowd parted easily for the soldiers with swords. Sage ran for his life, rushing toward open areas in the square. The soldiers perused behind him shouting for him to stop and for someone to catch him. The crowd was in chaos as Sage would point to random places also yelling, “Stop him! He’s over there! No thief, you can get away!”
Sage ran down an ally, but the Huldra father spotted him. The soldiers not confused by the random shouting happening all over the crowd at this point followed the Huldra father in his pursuit. Sage continued to weave around the curvy, narrow allies until he reached a tavern door. He glanced behind him. Seeing that the purser couldn’t see him from around the corner, Sage rushed in and closed the door silently. He then paused at the doorway listening to the Huldra father roaring threats as he and the soldiers rushed past the door.
Sage smirked. He then scanned the small dark tavern full of patrons smoking and drinking quietly among themselves. Then he made his way towards the darkest corner. There, in a booth, sat Dante and Toble. A barmaid served both of them a mug of cinnamon tonic as Sage approached. Sage smiled at the curvy girl, and she gave him a wink. Then Sage sat down in the booth next to Toble.
“What took you so long?” asked Toble.
“You try doing it,” said Sage stealing Toble’s drink.
“Son,” said Dante studying the young man. “You are either the dumbest boy I have ever seen or the cleverest.”
“I think the Huldra man who I paid to put on that show that saved your life would say I was clever,” said Sage.
He took another sip of the potent drink.
Dante’s mouth dropped open, and he stared at the young man in astonishment.
“You’re going to be Turmeric’s worst nightmare,” whispered Dante.
Then he held out his hand to Sage which Sage took gladly and shook it.
“I plan on it,” said Sage. “After all, I have a reputation to live up to.”
THE BEGINNING…
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