Fire of the Inquisitor

Lucia woke up in the haze between oversleeping and not sleeping enough. The first thing she noticed was that the fire she had made had gone out, and from the looks of it had been out for awhile. Just what she needed, another excuse for the inquisitor to think she was slow. She turned to apologize for sleeping in and saw that he wasn’t lying in the spot he was before.

“Sable?” Lucia said. She jumped up and looked around the camp, but he wasn’t there. “Oh no.”

How could he have just left her like that? For a second she thought that maybe he went to look for food, but then she remembered about his fast. In a panic, she gathered her things as fast as she could and ran in the direction that she thought he might have been headed. Lucia knew if she was ever going to find the others, that the inquisitor was her best chance.

It didn’t take her long to find evidence that she was going the right way, she knew enough about tracking to find someone even without footprints. With any luck, the inquisitor had not left too much earlier than her. As she continued what she thought must have been north the terrain started to grow more rugged and the sky a little darker. Lucia needed to find Sable soon.

Then she saw him, standing with his hands over his belt and shaking his head as if he was talking to someone. Lucia stopped in mid-sprint and ducked behind some rocks alongside the path. It was not as if she thought she could sneak up on the inquisitor, but she wanted to know what he was up to.

“You know I don’t like being called that,” Sable said. He crossed his arms and turned his back on her ever he was talking to. “Of course, I know what I’m doing, I’m older than you remember.”

Lucia was stunned to hear Sable speak so … human. Her curiosity was too great, she had to know who the inquisitor was talking to. As quiet as possible, she stepped out of her hiding place, trying to catch Sable in a more relaxed state, but as she approached where he was standing it was becoming clear that he was alone.

“Sable, who are you talking to?” She asked.

The inquisitor spun around faster than she thought possible even for someone of this world. “It was.” He cut himself off to turn around as if he expected someone to be there. “No one, it was no one.”

If Sable’s species could blush, Lucia knew he was behind that mask. She decided to drop the subject. “Why didn’t you wake me before you left?”

“It looked like you needed your sleep,” he said, reverting to his normal composed self. “Are you headed north also?”

“Actually, I was hoping you could help me find my people,” Lucia said.

Sable started to walk away. “Just head south and you will eventual return to your village.”

Lucia ran to catch up with him. “No, I mean to find the soldiers that came with me to the fields.”

“I can’t,” he said. “I must complete the task given to me by my lady.”

“What about that flame you used to find me?” Lucia hated the thought of being alone again, but at least she would know where she was headed. “How did you do that anyway.”

“It wasn’t me,” the inquisitor said. “My lady sent me a vision of you, that’s the only reason I knew where you were.”

“Then, maybe I could travel with you.”

“You would only slow me down,” Sable said.

Lucia could feel her face turning red. She ran in front of him so that he could see her face. “Travel as fast as you want, I can keep up and I could feed you in return as a gift. Like before and after you complete your mission you could help me.”

Sable stopped and stared at her for the moment. “My mission is mine and mine alone.”

“I’m not trying to take your mission from you, I just need your help,” Lucia said. She felt like reaching out to him and grabbing his arm, but she knew he wouldn’t react well. “Please, you know these lands better than anyone.”

Sable stared at her with the same blank look, but something told Lucia that he at least was considering her offer. “You humans are looking for a carrion thistle aren’t you?”

Lucia felt her jaw drop. “How did you know that?”

“Is it true?” Sable ignored her question.

Lucia nodded. “It’s true.”

Sable turned to face north. “If you follow me, then you may find what you are looking for, but you must keep up.”

“I will,” she said.

“And if we find the dragon that I am looking for, you will not interfere.”

“I promise.”

Sable started walking. “Then, you may follow human.”

“Lucia,” she said.

“I am aware of your name,” Sable said, not stopping.

Lucia ran past him again. “If we are going to be traveling together I want you to use my name.”

Sable stopped. “Why?”

“That is my one condition.” She crossed her arms.

The inquisitor looked at her like she was crazy. “Very well.”

He moved to step around her, but she blocked his path. “Say it.”

“Lucia.”

She smiled and let him pass, following closely behind. “So, where are we headed, Sable?”

“The Palace of Nightshade,” Sable said, never letting his gaze stray from the path in front of him. “It will not be pleasant.”