By: Bryant R. Haake, Honors College, Presidential Honors Student, English Major
Jacob tried to calm himself and get his bearings. Georgiana was still asleep despite their predicament and the jostling of both himself and the cart. The landscape was passing by slowly, but even still he could tell something was off. He’d known the direction they were heading, towards the setting sun. The sun was now to his left.
He glanced around a moment, looking for any people who could be guarding them, but no one was there. At least if there was anyone there, Jacob couldn’t see them. The horse was still clopping away though, and it wasn’t as if he had tied these ropes around himself.
“Ren,” Jacob whispered, worried someone could be right behind him, possibly even on the horse, “did you see who took us?”
That is not exactly how my senses work, Jacobson, Ren explained. I can see only when your eyes are open. It was quite disorienting the first time I attempted such a thing since your eyelids moved without my command, but–
“Nevermind.”
Jacob rolled his eyes at the currently unneeded explanation, instead turning his attention to his bindings. He almost wanted to laugh at how pitiful the attempt was. Even he could realize now that whoever it was that kidnapped them hadn’t the slightest clue who they were; at the very least, they didn’t know who he was.
He summoned two small tentacles and made quick work of the simple knot, simultaneously untying Georgiana with a second pair. He rubbed his wrists from the rope burn and quickly turned around to see who had been hiding. As he suspected, there was someone on the horse—two someones actually, a man and a woman. The man rode in front, keeping an eye out for anything ahead, scanning the horizon through a strange mask not unlike Seraph’s, but of a different style, and quite a bit less intricate. The woman had no such mask, and was silently resting her head on the man’s shoulder. Both had guns strapped to their sides, and the woman had a long, thin blade strapped to her other side.
Jacob turned back around and carefully clamped a hand over Georgiana’s mouth to keep her from making any noise, and then shook her slightly to wake her up. As she did so, he could hear the momentary sounds of panic come from her before he showed his face and put his finger to his mouth, shushing her. She nodded, confused, but didn’t make any more sound. He removed his hand and pointed behind him.
Georgiana crawled off of him and turned to look around, eyes going wide as she did so. She quickly fell back down into a more hidden position, but did so a little too noisily.
Jacob heard the signature sound of a holster button coming undone and quickly whirled around, grabbing the gun from the woman’s holster and going for the man’s too late as he wrenched it from the tentacles, weapon already in hand.
“What in Neptune’s name–”
Georgiana also popped up, red and green mist swirling around her hands. She cursed as no spectres decided to show up, and instead grabbed the blade from the woman right as the woman was waking up, blinking deliriously and going for her missing gun. Jacob also handed Georgiana said missing gun, and he swung out his bolo rope.
The wagon stopped as Georgiana, Jacob, and the man all faced off. The woman sat still, not daring to move a muscle lest she possibly catch a bullet.
“We’re gonna go now,” Jacob said uneasily. “Also, we’d like our cart back.”
“Yup,” the man replied, nodding slowly. “Yup, it seems we bit off a little more than we could chew, darlin’. I don’t think these are normal kids.”
Neither of those descriptors fits either you or Miss Georgiana, Ren complained. Normal? Kids? You are both stoneheart young adults. Check their pockets for sugar grass, will you? I haven’t had any in quite some time…
“I recommend you don’t ever try to find us again, and maybe get as far away from this stretch of land as possible,” Georgiana said. “Our companion isn’t as forgiving as we are.”
“Georgie, I don’t think we should be giving the kidnappers advice.”
“Well, I don’t think we should be giving them our names either, Jakey,” she responded a little too quickly, realizing her mistake too late. Her cheeks grew red with embarrassment.
“You’re sure we can’t take them still?” the woman asked, her hands slowly moving down her pants to her socks. Jacob glanced down and quickly flicked her hand away with a tentacle. The man shot him a masked glance and shrugged.
“I… we best be on our way.” He spun his gun around on his finger and holstered it, nodding to the two kidnappees. “Sorry for the inconvenience, younglings. We took you from over thataway.”
He raised his hand to point and both Jacob and Georgiana turned to look. In an instant, the man’s gun was back out and the woman was able to grab the end of the thin bladed weapon back from Georgiana, using some sort of padded glove she had been wearing so she didn’t cut herself. Georgiana was just able to keep the gun out of her reach.
“Alright, let’s try this again,” the woman said, eyes like steel. “You two freaks may be sneaky, but I’m willing to bet neither of you is bulletproof. So how’s about you come along quietly for now, and you can just see where we’re taking ya’? Don’t that sound nice?”
Jacob glanced at Georgiana, who nodded her head slightly. He nodded and returned his gaze back to the pair.
“We’re not going anywhere with you, so why don’t you–”
BANG!
Jacob’s eyes widened as he dropped his rope and patted down his body, sure they would’ve shot at him for mouthing off. After a moment of tense adrenaline, his eyes widened even further and he looked to the side. Red was pooling in the cart, a stain of blood spreading across the collar of Georgiana’s shirt.
Jacob scrambled to catch her as she fell back, breathing raggedy. She shuddered with every inhale, red staining her teeth as she struggled to keep her eyes open.
“No, no no, nononononono,” Jacob muttered. “No!”
“Sorry kid,” the woman smiled, blowing smoke from her barrel, “it was just busine–”
Jacob didn’t recollect what happened next. At the end of it however, the woman’s body lay broken on the ground, possibly in worse condition than Georgiana.
Jacob didn’t remember taking his eyes off Georgiana the entire time. What he did remember was screaming, “SERAPH!”
He didn’t know much about medicine, but he’d seen his fair share of gunshot wounds. As soon as he found the wound itself, he tore off a large chunk of his pant leg and pushed it into the wound, a difficult feat to accomplish since she’d been shot in the throat. He then applied pressure and tried to think about what to do next.
He didn’t need to think for long. A hand pulled back on his shoulder lightly, startling him before he saw the feathered silver mask of their new companion.
“I’m here, don’t worry.” Seraph gently pulled Jacob aside, pulling out a small notebook. Each page inside was marked with the same glyph, an intricate pattern which formed some kind of crossed structure. Seraph ripped out a page and placed it over the wound. The paper soaked through with blood quickly. Jacob stared in bewilderment.
“I’ve already clotted the–”
Seraph shushed him and said a few words Jacob didn’t understand, then traced the outline of the picture. The glyph began to glow a dull golden color. Georgiana’s breathing slowed and steadied, and the blood flow slowed as well.
Seraph stood up and cracked his knuckles, catching his breath from the use of a glyph.
“That was my second today,” he said. “Another and I’m tapped.”
With that statement he hopped from the cart and approached the two kidnappers. Jacob stayed in the cart, still holding up Georgiana’s head. Her eyes finally flitted open, pain still evident on her face.
“Ow,” she rasped.
She began to cough, just a little at first before it became a loud, terrible noise that struck Jacob’s soul with each piercing sound of pain. At last, she stopped coughing, spitting out a bit of blood and a small metal object. A bullet.
Georgiana raised a hand to her chest and picked up the bullet, inspecting it closely.
“So, that’s what one of these things feels like.” She grimaced. “I don’t recommend it. Ow.”
Jacob slowly pulled her into a hug, eyes still wide open with shock. He wasn’t sure what Seraph had done, but he knew he’d saved her life. Of that he was certain.
Georgiana briefly hugged him back before pulling back, slowly pushing herself up onto her hands.
“What happened to the… bandits? What do you call those kinds of people?”
“Traffickers,” Seraph spoke from the ground, kneeling by both criminals. “They are human traffickers who sell people to whoever will pay. Most also don’t mind taking a life, especially if they’ve been in the business for a while.” He stood up and dusted his cloak off, turning to face them. “You’re lucky to be alive, ma’am. As for what happened to them, I think we should ask Mister Jacob that question.”
Jacob looked down at the traffickers. The woman, who had been worse for wear than Georgiana, was sitting upright with her back to the man, nothing more than a few simple bruises to show for their conflict.
“I… don’t know what happened.” Jacob’s eyes narrowed. “Why did you heal her, Seraph? If that was your last glyph, shouldn’t you have saved it for someone more important?”
Seraph shrugged. “Who am I to decide who lives and dies? I merely did my job as a healer. Now, I understand that you might–”
Jacob sprang from his seat and slammed into the pair. He summoned tentacles to clear out any remaining weapons, searching for anything they could have kept hidden. When he was satisfied with his search, he stood back up and brought the gun to his hand, pointing it at the woman point-blank.
“Give me a good reason to let you live.”
Words from his past echoed through his mind: Heilyn telling him killing should only be done with a weapon he had mastered (none currently), Captain Vexx lecturing him on why lives were sacred and not to be taken for granted. All of those thoughts whisked away in the storm that was his mind. He pulled back a little on the trigger.
“Well?” The woman stared defiantly at him, lips refusing to move. Before he could decide to fire, Seraph stepped between him and the woman.
“It’s not your job either, Mister Jacob.” He looked into Jacob’s eyes, prismatic colors flashing with danger. This silly man was much more powerful than Jacob could so far give him credit for. “Let me handle this. I promise they will get their due.”
“I agree with him, Jakey,” Georgiana said, leaning forth in the cart with wide eyes. “Don’t become a killer just because you’re mad.”
Somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind, Jacob heard himself repeating, You are a killer. You are a killer. You’ve already killed a man, and that makes you a killer. Just do it, and prove it.
Ren stayed silent, or maybe it was just his own thoughts drowning out the monster inside him. After a moment, he shuddered and nodded to Georgiana, anger falling from his face as he tossed the weapon to her.
“Here, you probably need a weapon.”
Georgiana caught it but tossed it away.
“No thanks.” She glanced to the dusty ground and, with labored breaths, climbed down from the cart, blood-stained clothing already beginning to dry. “I prefer this one, I think.” She bent down and picked up the discarded thin blade, still in its now-discarded scabbard. She tied it around her own waist and grinned sheepishly at Jacob. “Just for self-defense, of course.”
Jacob nodded and closed his eyes. Despite having just woken up, he felt drained. He crawled up into the cart and laid down, back to the wooden floor.
“Ren, what happened back there?” he whispered.
You attacked without thinking, Jacobson. Ren’s voice echoed around his skull. You didn’t leave your friend’s side if that’s what you are worried about. In fact, you did something on instinct I do not know if you were aware you could do. You summoned tentacles from your back rather than your arms. Ren sounded excited.
“So what, I’m just supposed to be happy about that?”
I think you should. I mean, if all it takes is a bit of violence to teach you these things, then–
“No!” he shouted, startling his companions. His cheeks flushed as he quieted back down. “No, I refuse to just keep killing and hurting things just so I can get better.”
Ren grunted, low and melodic despite the gruffness of the noise. Fine, have it your way for now, he relented.
Jacob continued to lay there for a while, letting the sun pass him overhead. It had been early morning when they had woken up, but now it was already afternoon. Georgiana eventually got into the cart and sat across from him, trying to catch his eyes to no avail. How could she even look at him after that? His big mouth had gotten her hurt.
“I’m not mad at you,” Georgiana said as if she could read his thoughts. “Jakey… are you okay?”
“I should be asking you that,” he mumbled, still refusing to look at her.
“I’m fine,” she said, “but you don’t seem okay. It wasn’t your fault I got shot, you know.”
“How could you even say that?” He finally looked at her. “Of course it was my fault; I’m the one who blabbered off to them when I should’ve just shut my mouth and waited for a better time to escape.”
Georgiana tried to scoot closer to him, but he curled away.
“Georgiana… I don’t think I should be here. I keep doing things to get people hurt, and hurting people myself… Rivers, I almost killed the lady who hurt you. You can’t tell me that was me defending you; that was pure revenge. I don’t want to see myself like that.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “I want everything to go back to how it was before.”
Nothing happened for a few seconds. Jacob kept his eyes closed, hoping he’d be left alone. Instead, he felt Georgiana curl up behind him, laying her head on his shoulder.
“Jacob, my father is dead. My town is burnt to a crisp. Worst of all is that they didn’t even seem to need me. And yet, I like this. Of course there are things I would change if I could, but I can’t. What I can do is make the most of a bad situation.”
She then got up and picked him up off his side, setting him down with some effort. He opened his eyes and looked into hers, tired but wrinkled with light smile marks.
“Listen to me now, because I won’t repeat this again. I’m not mad at you for anything. Not for talking, not for giving me Krakenstone, not for any other thing you think you’ve done wrong. I am here to stay, and I would like it if you were, too. So, will you?”
She held out a hand and smiled a little wider, still tired and pained, but genuine. He didn’t smile, nor did he want to accept. Still, against all his doubts, he took her hand.
“Okay.”
Georgiana nodded and pulled him into a quick hug, giving him one last smile before hopping off the cart to try and start a fire. Despite the early hour, they decided to all stop for the night and continue the next day, when Seraph thought they would likely still reach their destination.
Seraph worked on constructing a more secure contraption to hold their prisoners—a cage of sorts made from olive trees he had chopped down—while Georgiana worked on their fire. Her lack of survival skills began to show as she got more and more frustrated at the sticks, before she finally pulled out a few ingredients from her alchemist’s satchel, mixed them together, and then banged two rocks together covered in whatever it was she had made, starting the fire instantly.
Crimson still hadn’t shown up, though Seraph promised she would be on her way. He couldn’t go look for her since he had already used his raven sigil earlier, along with the two healing sigils. Jacob still didn’t understand anything he was talking about when he mentioned his sigils, but he trusted that the man knew what he was talking about.
Jacob was able to set up four tents, using a bit of help from Georgiana on the last one as she finally finished the fire. When they were done, they offered to help Seraph but he declined. Instead, Georgiana went back to the fire to ensure it kept burning while Jacob watched the masked man.
“Thank you for helping us, Seraph,” he said after a few minutes of watching. “I don’t think we would’ve made it this far without you.”
“Ah, it’s my pleasure, Mister Jacob. Say, if you don’t mind my asking, what is your relationship with Miss Georgiana? It seems you two are close, but you don’t exactly seem to be a pair if you understand my meaning. Would you care to explain?”
He glanced back to see Jacob’s red cheeks. The skin around his eyes crinkled with a smile.
“I see. Nevermind then. How about a different topic of conversation? What would you like to speak about?”
“Oh, I don’t know if I have anything, sir. I’m not too used to long conversations, or starting them for that matter.”
Seraph tied off the last of the extra rope, finishing the cage around the pair. He had been able to tie it onto the back of the cart so that it could be dragged. It didn’t look like the comfiest of confinements, but nonetheless it was impressive handiwork given the materials—or lack thereof—he’d had to work with.
“Alright then,” Seraph announced, clapping his hands together, “dealer’s choice, huh? Come over to the fire. I think you two may find how my sigils work fairly fascinating, and we’d better do this before Crimson returns. I don’t know about you two, but I don’t think she likes me very much.”