Chapter Six

A gentle breeze kicked up dust from the path as their horses walked through the village. Buildings alongside them had been torn down or boarded up, but what was curious to her was the vacancy of people. No voice was being carried by the wind, no pattering of feet against the dirt path drew their attention. It looked and felt like a ghost town. Gideon sat up tall in his saddle, the look up confusion decorated his sculpted features.

"This isn't right at all." he muttered, his eyes casting over each building they walked past.

"What gave it away? The highwaymen at the entrance or the fact they were guarding an empty town?" she huffed beside him, drawing her horse to a stop when they reached the center. A well was sitting in the middle of the widened path, the roof over it missing a few shingles, and some bricks around the base were cracked, but overall it appeared to be fine. Leading off from the well were three paths. Off to the right had a road with what appeared to be more broken down housing. To the left the road stretched to show businesses on either side. Again, no one was standing around, or appeared at the windows. The path heading south from them stretched far beyond the town, and with the sun deeply setting, the building in the distance was difficult to make out.

Rayne dismounted, walking up to the well and tests the pulley before pulling up a wooden bucket. She tilted the bucket this way and that way, flipping it upside down to examine the underside, but the bucket appeared to be completely dry. She settled the bucket back down on the ledge of the well, and glanced around the buildings, her sight only getting darker with the dusk. Gideon dismounted, following her line of sight to an inn.

"We shouldn't stay the night if the highwaymen return. We could easily be outnumbered." he stated, the sound of small pattering steps and wood clattering to the ground caused him to grip the hilt of his sword and both turned in surprise to see a small child holding a small wooden horse in their hands. Gideon's eyes widened, "A child? So, we are not alone." he said, taking a step toward her, but the little one only took a step back. Rayne grabbed Gideon's arm before he continued forward.

"Don't. Can't you see that she's scared?" Rayne asked in a low voice, and took down her hood. The child let out a soft gasp when a door from one of the boarded houses slammed open and a woman ran out, throwing her arms around the child.

"Please don't hurt her! I'll do anything, just please leave my daughter out of this!" the woman cried out, squishing the child against her chest protectively. Rayne and Gideon glanced at each other.

"Ma'am, we're not here to hurt her or you. In fact, we're from the Kingdom." Gideon spoke up, and a man stepped out of the same door, a lit lantern in hand. The dancing flame cascaded shadows over the man's face, revealing an older gentleman with graying short hair, dirt caked over his cheeks and forehead. His commoners clothes were torn in some places and covered in dirt as well.

"The Kingdom only sent two to help us?" he asked doubtfully, but Gideon looked at him in confusion.

"Help with what? The highwaymen? I haven't seen or heard of any report related to this village or issue." Gideon said, and the man glared at him. Rayne stepped forward toward the woman and girl, the woman clutching the child to her. She reached beneath her cloak, the woman closing her eyes in wait for her impending doom, but it never came. When her eyes opened once more, Rayne had knelt down in front of her, the flames of the lantern lit upon her hair and face. She held up her water skin to the child. The little girl stepped out of her mother's arms and took the water skin into her small hands. She glanced back at her mother and then looked up at Rayne. She gestured with her hand toward the water skin. The girl put it to her lips and nearly cried as the cold, fresh liquid graced her dry lips and soothed her parched throat. The mother let out a sigh of relief, a few tears had streamed down her face, leaving clean trails through the dirt on her cheeks. Gideon watched Rayne silently, taking in the sight of her generosity before turning to the man.

"Tell me everything that has happened here." he said, and the man raised his chin defiantly.

"Love, please tell them. They can help us." the woman spoke up. The little girl finally released the water skin from her grasp, and Rayne passed it to the mother, who took several gulps of the cool liquid. Gideon held up his sigil to the man, and he finally released the tension in his shoulders.

"I'll take you into the inn, that's where the others are." he said, and the mother finished replenishing, returning the waterskin to Rayne, but she pushed it back toward her.

"Please, if you have others, let them finish it off. You need it more than I do." she said and rises to her feet. The woman bowed her head, picking up her daughter and headed inside where Rayne noticed two more children at the doorway wearing filthy clothes and dirt caked faces. The man gestured in the direction of the inn and the two travelers followed behind, leading their horses to a post and tied them up for the night.

The man opened the door slowly, the lantern dimly lit the room, but it didn't hide the shadows of those that were inside. The man went around the room, lighting other lanterns until the inn came to life. Tables were scattered throughout the room, some chairs tipped over and broken. A staircase off to the left. Several patrons were standing by the bar counter, and a single person stood behind it.

"These two are from the Kingdom." the man stepped aside for Rayne and Gideon to enter, and the patrons mumbled to one another.

"Only two?"

"One appears to be a woman."

"Does King Abel think that this is a joke?"

The words caused a stir in Gideon's mind as he stepped forward.

"I am Gideon Ryder, one of the Knights to King Abel." he introduced himself, his chin raised. An older woman scoffed at him, waving her hand in dismissal.

"A single knight has come to save us from a group of thieves and their lord." she laughed, turning away from them. Gideon faltered slightly, not familiar with the behavior.

"It's better than not receiving anything at all." Rayne stepped in alongside Gideon. He glanced down at her, seeing determination in her emerald gaze. He clenched his jaw. The sight gave her a different look in his eyes. The woman peered at Rayne out of the corner of her eye and let out another laugh, louder this time and got up from the stool.

"I'm sorry, but are we supposed to be impressed by this?" she asked, leaning on a cane. Her long silver hair braided back. A few others mumbled in agreement. Gideon folded his arms across his chest.

"Will the body of one of the men at the entrance suffice as proof enough?" he asked, and one of the men stepped forward. He wore a leather apron and held up a hand.

"I'll take a look into that, sir." he volunteered, his eyes on the man that brought them here. Gideon looked over to the man, a brow raised. He rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm the Mayor of this small village," he nods to the man in the apron and he leaves through the door, "The thieves showed up about a month or so ago now. At first it was minor threats that slowly escalated to taking over the whole town. They cut off our water supply and scared off our farm animals and any merchants that tried to make their way through here." he sat at a nearby table, setting down his lantern. Gideon took a seat opposite of him as Raynr remained by the door, leaning up against the wall with her arms crossed. She took the time as they discussed to observe the people within the room. The old woman that spoke up against them had returned back to her stool, but her back was to them and a dark look veiled her eyes. A younger man beside her gave her shoulder a squeeze, his brown hair receding. He had farmer attire on, and his eyes gave off sympathy. Another man sat a little further down the bar, his back to everything that was going on, his salt and pepper shaggy hair covering his eyes, but a deep scar was visible on his cheek that disappeared into the shadow of his hair. He wore a grey tunic and black pants, but what caught Rayne's eyes was the wooden peg leg of the right foot.

Minutes later, the man reappeared at the door, his eyes wide from his discovery as he looked over to the Mayor and Gideon.

"It's true. One of the thieves is dead. His face was nearly cut in half." he said, and those at the bar let out a soft gasp followed by murmuring. The Mayor looked over to Gideon.

"You made quick with him, did you?" he asked, but Gideon shook his head and inclined his head toward Rayne.

"Not I, but she did." he said, and the murmuring increased. The man at the door turned toward Rayne and without hesitation, took up her hands and clasped them together. She stiffened, pressing her back into the wall behind her. He was smiling at her, relief in his eyes.

"Thank you! That bastard tore up my shop! I'm glad you gave him what he deserved." he said, and Rayne looked at him, unable to speak. Gideon watched as panic was settling in her eyes, his fists clenching.

Rayne let out a breath, slowly removing her hands from his and moves to the side, creating distance between them.

"Now, how many more are there?" she asked to remove the eyes from her. The Mayor tapped his fingers against the table slowly, his brows furrowed.

"Let's see... if I recall correctly, aside from the corpse leading into town, I'd say there are seven others that are left, including the one that leads them."

"And who is this person that leads this band of fools?" Rayne asked, and a deep chuckle left the man from the end of the bar.

"The fool that leads these fools... Ignaar." he spoke the same with disgust, spitting at the floor before getting off his seat. Rayne noticed the scar go up his right cheek, pause over the eye before continuing shortly into his brow. An eyepatch sat over his right eye. "And I know a way that can help kill these bastards."