Stranger - part 4

I slammed the mug down on the table, standing up abruptly.

"Were you discovered? What happened?"

The attendant cleared his throat.

The interior of the inn, once cozy, now felt colder and colder. He straightened the wood with a hook he had on the side and placed another large piece for it to burn.

The fire went down for a few minutes and began to burn stronger. You could see some lumines dancing through the flames.

***

I woke up the next morning feeling dizzy, not remembering exactly how I fell asleep, next to the wagon I had used to hide. I was in such a hurry that I didn't even realize how exhausted I was.

There was a thick fog that morning and the air was heavy.

Despite not paying much attention to details, I couldn't help noticing a certain uproar that was in the city.

Everyone seemed excited, but it didn't seem to be because of the birthday...

"The birthday!"

I rushed to Riff's house to deliver the necklace, ignoring the unusual movement and hoping I still got there in time.

However, when I got there, I found a young man desolate and in tears.

"Riff?"

I called a few times without an answer. Suddenly he realized I was there. He hugged me tight, crying desperately.

"He... took her!"

While he cried and raged about disjointed things.

"That(hic) damn... aahhhh... He(hic)... He took it... I'll(hic)..."

I tried to calm him down, to no avail.

***

"So he took her by force?"

I ended up taking another spoonful of that soup, which was now cold. It wasn't pleasant. The attendant looked at me seriously as he grabbed another mug of beer.

"Here. Need more beer to get that bad taste out of your mouth. Haha."

I smiled awkwardly, but my curiosity to know the rest was obvious. He went back to his chair while I took another sip of that beer that seemed to be the only good thing in this place right now.

"Boy, have you ever had a lost love? It's one of the worst things that can happen. The way it turns out says a lot about how and if, you'll get over it."

"But... The two of them loved each other so much, there would be no chance of Noah conquering her right?"

I could see in the attendant's lackluster eyes that he preferred not to remember what he was going to say.

"Conquering was never intended. Evil took over Noah's heart. He wanted to destroy everything Riff had."

I held my breath for a moment. That went beyond what was expected, why so much hatred between friends?

"He no..."

That's when a man with long gray hair, braided, who was in the background interrupted.

"MORE BEER HERE!"

I could see at a glance that you had shabby clothes, maybe days without washing. A wildly growing mustache and a saddened look.

My eyes fixed on his carefully arranged hair. He looked at me with a wan smile.

"My daughter loves to braid my hair. She says they look beautiful. Hahahaha..."

I looked away quickly, a little embarrassed.

"I didn't mean to be rude...sir..."

"Oh no, no. It's really weird. Hahaha. But since I haven't seen her anymore, I leave it that way to remember."

The attendant has returned with the beer, and as you start to drink, he turns his eyes in my direction.

"These days have been a pretty dark boy. For many here, it's just beer."

Indeed, the village had gone through some disasters in recent years. The most recent was this rain that hadn't stopped for days. Many said that this place had been abandoned by the gods.

I could understand why no one looked excited. In fact, I started to feel a little guilty for rummaging through this painful past.

In a quick glance, the attendant looks to see if anyone else needed anything. But he could see that everyone in the place was eager for the next part, or maybe they didn't have anything better to do on a stormy night in that town.

He sat down again, the creaking of doors and walls due to the storm making me tenser and tenser.

I watched my reflection in the mug as he shook the beer, almost biting his lip.

Was I really ready for what I was going to hear?

***

After calming down, Riff managed to explain the situation.

Noah had kidnapped Sarah.

It is said that she was trying on a dress she had been given by her father when a shrill scream was heard.

Was the scream I heard last night hers then? I thought to myself but soon turned my attention to what Riff was talking about.

"Something or someone entered the scene and took her in the dead of night. Many ran to the scene, but they only found a destroyed scene, torn pieces of the dress were on the floor and... bloodstains everywhere."

Riff was pretty stunned as he spoke.

"Is... is she alright?"

I asked how I knew it had been Noah and he showed me a note tied with a red ribbon that said:

FIND ME AT THE OLD SANCTUARY.

DON'T TAKE ANYONE IF YET

WANTING TO SEE HER WITH LIFE.

It was Noah's handwriting.

"What a son of a..."

Riff, as he calmed down, seemed to have a blank stare, his expression becoming more and more closed.

Suddenly, he went to a small dresser and began rummaging through the drawers, finding a small wooden box. In it was a dagger studded with colored stones, which he had been given as a gift when he took over as a lantern.

I knew that dagger. It was a gift from Noah himself.

I shivered.

I had never seen that look coming from Riff.

"Are you going there? It's obvious it's a trap."

"It does not matter."

"But..."

"While we're here, who knows what he could be…doing…with her."

He swallows hard as he finishes picking up a few more things: the cloak, the staff he used to power the luminaries in the lanterns, the note with the tape...

"I'll go with you!"

"No. The note was clear: alone."

He put his hands to my face, with a forced smile.

"You don't need to suffer anymore for both of us. Today it's over."

I tried to stop him. Tears streamed down my face as I watched him go.

As he wiped his face on his sleeves, he turned one last time, smiling.

"Would you take care of the necklace for me? I'll be back for it."

It was the last time I saw him.

***