Benlunar - Episode 15
Tooth & Fist
The Roads of Alicium run through it like veins
From small paths down mountains to city built lanes
They’ll guide you home or take you away
Or make you visit village that begs you to stay
Up through the pass, down through the grass
Stick to your map, veer not from the path
Or perhaps take an unfamiliar bend
After all, the aim of the song is the tune not the end
Lilian sat stock still in the darkness of the round room. She was reeling from her strange experience with the attention exercise. For a few seconds, she could have sworn she had been somewhere else, or even many places, but without ever having left the hut. She was remembering the sounds and events she had experienced and was suddenly jolted into action. She stood up and tiptoed over to Mr Attorcop who lay sleeping in a pile of furs on the other side of the room. She bent down and shook his shoulder, trying to stay quiet as she moved. It didn’t take long for Mr Attorcop to open his eyes but it took him a couple more seconds to realise what was happening.
“Lilian? Is everything alright?” He sat up and looked around, Lilian brought her finger up to her mouth to quiet him down.
“I heard someone.” Mr Attorcop’s eyes darted around the dark space.
“Where?”
“Not here.” Replied Lilian, “They’re in town somewhere. They’re sneaking around and I think they’ve got a bucket of paint with them. I think someone is trying to paint another message.” Mr Attorcop was silent as he considered the information.
“What do you mean, you heard them? I can’t hear anything.”
“I was practising the attention exercise and I heard their footsteps. They sounded strange, I’m not sure where they are but…” She faltered as she realised how silly she sounded. She looked at Mr Attorcop, half expecting him to be laughing or rolling his eyes, but his face was serious.
“That’s good Lilian, I want to hear all about it soon but right now, I’m trying to think what’s best to do.” Lilian already had a plan.
“We can go now and maybe we’ll catch them red handed!”
“Maybe,” He spoke as he began pulling furs off him and standing up, “Or maybe they’re trying to lure us out, into a trap.”
“A trap?” said Lilian, incredulous, “How could they know I would hear them?”
“Maybe they assume we’re setting up watch during the night. I just don’t think it’s down to coincidence that another messenger appears the second night we decide to stay here.” Mr Attorcop stood bent and low to the ground. As he spoke, he edged toward the curtain that blocked the door.
“I think this might be some sort of test. I think they’re trying to figure out who’s side we’re on.” Lilian was confused.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, it seems that most of the village enjoys living in Hundsberg but a small section seem to think they’d be better off elsewhere. That’s my theory anyway.”
“You think it’s more than one person?” asked Lilian.
“Undoubtedly.” Replied Mr Attorcop as he pulled the curtain aside a fraction and peeked out into the village. After a little while he drew back and relaxed.
“Honestly Lilian, I think we should just go back to bed.” Lilian was aghast, she had to contain her shock so as to not raise her voice when she spoke,
“Go back to bed! There’s someone out there spreading awful ideas and insulting these people. They’ve been kind to us and they’ve fed us, how can you…” Anger was taking hold of her and Mr Attorcop put a hand out in an effort to calm her. Lilian found this very patronising and crossed her arms in a sulk.
“I’m not saying we ignore the problem. I’m saying that if we head out there now we risk showing our hand. The person out there is undoubtedly nervous and nervous people are unpredictable. I’ve already set a plan in motion that I believe…” But Lilian didn’t hear the end of his sentence. She had already pulled back the curtain and was stepping out of the hut into the balmy night. She had felt Mr Attorcop call after her, he might have even stepped outside, but without any shoes or boots on he didn’t get far without turning back to go and retrieve his footwear. By the time he’d put his boots on, Lilian had already ducked into a sidestreet and was trying to remember where the sound of the footsteps had come from. She found that anger was clouding her thoughts too much so she acted instinctively, letting her body take her where she needed to be. She found herself twisting down lanes and darting across wider streets. After only about 5 minutes she found herself in a dark alleyway, about two streets from the main road. There was no light coming from any of the small windows that looked out into the alley so Lilian was thankful for the clear sky and the light of the stars. She slowed her pace and focused her mind. The wooden board walls and trickles of smelly water seemed familiar and Lilian wondered if this was where she’d heard the furtive footsteps. Suddenly she saw movement up ahead. She ducked behind a pile of wooden crates and tried see if she could make out who was moving up ahead. Through a small gap in the wood she could only see the vague outline and movement of a hooded figure. They were tall and they were facing away from her. Lilian was reminded of the hoods and cowls worn by Stephanie and Bardat when they had accosted them in the forest, she had seen many people around Hundsberg wear similar hoods so guessing who this might be was impossible. Lilian needed to get a better look so she slowly stuck her head out from behind the boxes, careful not to make a sound as she did. She was able to get a better look at the hooded figure, she briefly saw that they were holding some kind of tool, possibly a brush, but Lilian didn’t have time to look properly because she was staring into the brown, glassy eyes of very big dog. Lilian hadn’t even thought to look for it. Of course it head smelt her and wandered over to investigate. For a brief second the two stared in silence, each as surprised as the other. The dog was dark red and didn’t have the wide forehead and big jaws that had made Leonardo so intimidating, but it was taller and could still probably be quite nasty if pushed to violence. The dog began jerking a little, Lilian thought it was about to be sick but with each new convulsion it let out a low and whispered sound, a small bark. And then she understood. The dog was signalling its owner of her presence without making a loud racket, Lilian might have been impressed if the dogs barking hadn’t suddenly drawn the attention of the hooded figure. Lilian saw them whirl round but they were too far and too covered up to make out any discerning features. She heard them let out a quick whistle and the dog ran back to them and just like that the two were off. They ran quickly and nimbly down the alley and into a sidestreet, Lilian, almost without thinking gave chase. Left down the street, right up another alley Lilian almost lost sight of them when they turned back on themselves down a near hidden path obscured by hanging laundry. She brushed the sheets aside and ran blindly after the culprit. Her fighting practise and consistent walking had done much for her fitness as she seemed to be closing the distance between her and her prey. If I could just get a look at their face, she thought as she turned a quick left corner. Lilian found herself running into almost pitch blackness, the buildings in this part of the town were very close together. Lilian slowed her pace so that she could find her bearings. Once her eyes adjusted to the darkness she beamed. Ahead of her was a large mud clay wall with no streets leading left or right, the hooded stranger was at the bottom of it, cornered. Lilian wanted to shout out, she wanted to alert the rest of Hundsberg that she had saved the day, or rather, the night but before she could get a word out, her smiled faded in realisation. The hooded figure was alone, which meant… Lilian whipped round to have her fears confirmed. The chestnut red dog was behind her teeth bared, a low growl coming from its muscular throat. Lilian cursed under her breath. It must have gone right instead of left at the last junction and Lilian had instinctively followed the sound of boots turning the opposite way. Now it had turned back and crept up on her, forcing her to have opponents on two sides. Her heart began to beat quickly and her training kicked in. She breathed deeply, slowing it down and putting oxygen into her limbs, this might be a long fight and she would need all the energy she could muster. She stepped back from the approaching dog, aware that she was just getting closer to the hooded figure.
“We don’t need to fight.” She said in as calm a voice as she could muster, “I haven’t seen your face or heard your voice. You can just leave me alone and I won’t pursue you.” She thought she could hear a faint laugh coming from under the stranger’s cowl. They might be right to laugh at the threats of a young girl, thought Lilian, they were quite a bit taller than she was and had a well trained hunting beast to back them up.
There was a pregnant silence. Lilian stood in a guard position and waited. She breathed out slowly readying her body. And then the fight began. It was the dog that lunged first, its jaws glittered in the starlight as they hurtled towards Lilian’s left arm with uncanny speed. Lilian was ready though and she twisted out of the way and watched the dog fly past, with a fraction of a second’s realisation Lilian flicked her arms up to her right to guard against a punch from above. The dog’s attack had been yet another distraction and it was only months of reaction practise that saved her from a knock out blow. The punch was followed swiftly by two more, a left hook blocked by her right arm and a right uppercut that Lilian had to step backwards to avoid. She remembered Mr Attorcop’s word from one of their many sparring sessions, “If you have to step back, get back into their space quickly. A blow hurts more the longer it has to travel.” The advice rang true as Lilian was able to block another wild punch by stepping into it rather than away. Then the dog was back, it stood between its owner’s legs and snapped at Lilian’s heels. At one point the stranger muttered a word and the animal leapt upwards knocking Lilian to the ground. Luckily she’d had the foresight to tuck her legs into her body and was able to kick the dog up and over her, it landed a few feet away with a thud and a whimper. Lilian continued the backwards rolling motion and used it to find her feet. She stood up and caught her breath. The stranger had paused. Lilian had clearly surprised them with her level of competence but she knew that that would not be enough to make them stop attacking. Lilian noticed that although they had strength, the stranger lacked speed. This would be her winning tactic. The next flurry of attacks began as soon as the dog was up on its feet. Lilian dodged and blocked as best she could but the two attackers weaved and danced in near perfect symbiosis. As soon as one fainted an attack the other would appear from elsewhere with a serious hit. Lilian felt a knee driven hard into her chest but Mr Attorcop’s voice echoed in her head once more. “A good fighter isn’t one who can land the most hits. It’s often the one who can take the most and still keep fighting.” And so Lilian persisted. Every bite was batted away, every punch blocked by wrist or fist. She managed to get in a few hits of her own, even one to the strangers stomach that had them double over in shock. But whereas in a normal fight, Lilian could have taken advantage of this lapse to deliver a knock-out kick, the dog was instantly in front of its owner, snapping and clawing in their defence. Lilian was getting weary, what made things even more difficult was that she wasn’t carrying a stick or blade, but then, she thought, thankfully they aren’t either. Lilian suddenly realised that she had them both with their backs to the wall, leaving the exit free for her to run to. But she took a split second to decide whether to run or keep fighting, and it cost her dearly. As she turned to run, she felt sharp teeth clamping down on her left heel, she gasped and instinctively turned to observe the damage. The stranger took advantage of the distraction and delivered a swift punch to her left cheek. It sent tiny lights spraying across her vision and she felt her balance go. Lilian managed to tear her leg out of the dog’s jaws and get a few steps away before falling over. The hard ground came up to meet her with dizzying speed, she could taste blood in her mouth. Suddenly, she felt the weight and fur of an animal step over her, she braced herself and tried to cover her throat, scared that the stranger’s dog might try to bite it. But nothing happened. Lilian opened her eyes and indeed saw a large creature standing over her, its hefty legs straddling her body. It’s fur wasn’t red however, it was a strange dark green, and all of a sudden, it changed to become a bright orange. Fritha. Thought Lilian. She breathed out and tried to gather her senses. She sat up on her elbow and tried to look at the scene. Fritha was staring intently at the man, her eyes narrowed and her back arched with aggression. She was bearing her long fangs and Lilian saw that the stranger and the dog were at a loss. They didn’t seem to dare to attack and were stepping back towards the large wall. Lilian picked herself up slowly. She stared at Fritha who was tense with anger. Just then, her back dropped and her mouth closed. She did not break eye contact with the aggressors, but she no longer seemed on the verge of attacking. She towered two heads taller than the stranger’s dog who currently had its tail between its legs in worry. Then a low sound came from Fritha. Lilian had never heard it before. It was like someone hitting a gong with a cloth softened mallet, producing a haunting and beautiful sound. It came from her throat, as all Fritha’s strange bell like sounds did and it reverberated and hung in the air for some time. Then it happened again and it seemed to send panic into the hearts of the stranger and their dog. The mysterious person turned around and placed their foot into a hidden enclave in the wall, they quickly hoisted themselves up and were able to turn and place their other foot on a high ledge on the cornering wall. Their dog then leapt into their arms with a well practised jump and the stranger through it up and over the back wall of the alley. Lilian heard a soft thud and assumed there must be some stack of soft materials behind it for precisely this situation. She watched as the stranger jumped up and followed suit and with a flick of their cloak, they were over the wall and gone.
Lilian swore and felt shame rise up inside her. She had been foolish and she had failed. If Fritha hadn’t… Well, she didn’t want to think about what might have happened. She looked down at Fritha amazed that she had found her in this dark place.
“Thank you.” She whispered. She felt a little silly talking to Fritha whom she knew full well could not respond, but she quickly ignored that feeling. Why shouldn’t she thank her? Fritha was looking at Lilian, her nose twitching with concern. Low and pleasant chiming emanated from her chest, her coat was a deep purple and her eyes were big and bright and beautiful.
Later, Lillian limped shamefully through the curtain into the round hut. Mr Attorcop was not there so Lilian found a pan of fresh water and began to clean her cuts. Luckily, the dog’s bite on her ankle had gripped her boot more than her skin so she managed to get away with some bloodied bruising rather than a torn ligament. She cleaned it and dressed it with some rags she boiled over the fire. She was cleaning the cut on her face when Mr Attorcop walked in. When he saw her he gave a big sigh and closed his eyes. Lilian was expecting a lecture but he seemed to get a grip on his anger before he spoke.
"How bad are you hurt?" Lilian felt a lump in her throat, she wanted to cry but knew that it wouldn't help. She pushed it down.
"I'm OK. Couple of cuts and this." She gestured to her ankle. Mr Attorcop shook his head.
"Can you walk." Lilian nodded. He came over to the benches by the fire pit and sat down. He thought a while before speaking.
"I don't want to shout and tell you off. I'm not your father and I think you're probably well aware of how stupid and dangerous your actions were tonight." Lilian almost wished that he did shout at least then she could have raged and shouted back like she wanted, instead she just felt the hot lump of tears and sadness well up in her throat. He was not her father. Lilian missed her father.
"Lilian I'm not training you to fight so that you can go around threatening…"
"I didn't…" Lilian protested but Mr Attorcop raised his hand quickly to silence her. His patience was being tested. He spoke slowly, measuring his words carefully,
"The training we've been doing has two purposes, the first is to get you more in tune with your body, the second is to help you in the last resort of violence breaking out. There are many ways to solve problems and violence is very rarely one of them. I know you weren't picking a fight. But you shot out of this place without realising that violence might have been your prey's intention, despite it not being your own. I… " Mr Attorcop faltered. Lilian lifted her gaze from the floor to look at him. His eyes were red, he looked tired.
"I was scared." And with that he said no more. Lilian rubbed a place on her ribs that had been hit in the fight.
"I'm sorry." She spoke softly and could feel her pulse beating in her reddening cheeks. Mr Attorcop didn't acknowledge the apology. Instead, he got up and walked over to his bed.
"Did you at least see their face?" he muttered as he began pulling the animal skins back.
"No," replied Lilian, getting up and testing her weight on her damaged ankle, “But I saw their dog.”
The next morning saw the news of a new message whip around the town like wildfire. The wall in question was very close to the main road and this, more than the actual words, seemed to be the main concern. The message was a strange one because it was not finished like the rest had been. In bold red letters it read “GET OUT. MOVE AWA…” and that was it. The last word was assumed to be ‘away’ but the culprit seemed to only have had time to write part of it. Lilian agreed with Mr Attorcop to keep last night’s events a secret, apparently he was enacting some plan that Lilian’s scuffle might endanger. Lilian offered to help but he assured her that training with Stephanie and Fritha would be a more valuable use of her time in Hundsberg. Once the wall had been scrubbed and the nosier citizens shooed back into their homes, Mr Attorcop and Lilian sat with Stephanie in the main hut. They were drinking their sweet Verbrunn Suss and discussing the morning’s discovery.
“I think they will have a meeting here today.” Said Stephanie, patting a drooling Leonardo on the side.
“Who?” Asked Mr Attorcop.
“Zinnia and the heads of the families. They must decide what to do about this.” Mr Attorcop considered her answer and stared at Stephanie. Lilian wanted to apologise for him, staring so indignantly was considered rude in Benlunar but Mr Attorcop never was one for proper social etiquette.
“Stephanie?” He asked finally, “What do you think of the messages? Do you agree with them?” Lilian almost spoke up and if she hadn’t had a proper telling off last night she would have done. She expected Stephanie to be hurt by the question, as if anyone would agree with such hateful words against her own people. But when she looked over at her young, curly haired friend she saw her face scrunch up in confusion. She seemed to be having difficulty forming a response.
“I don’t agree with the way they are saying it…” Mr Attorcop pushed.
“But you agree with the sentiment.”
“No… well.” Stephanie lowered her voice. “A few of the younger people here think that Hundsberg needs to become a bit more… modern.”
“Modern? How so?”
“Well, I mean it’s ok now in the Summer but in the winter it gets very cold and the mud does not dry quickly but no one complains because, well this is our home and we are doing our best but maybe if we allowed more strangers in we could trade or learn new things. I think it would not be of harm but the older people they want Hundsberg to stay the same because we are protected and safe and we have always been so maybe they are right.” Lilian couldn’t restrain herself any longer.
“Do you think the person writing the messages is a young person from Hundsberg?” Stephanie sighed.
“I do not know anyone who thinks this way or would say these things to our community.” A silence fell for a while before it was interrupted by Zinnia entering the hut with Otto trotting behind her. She sat down by the fire pit and rubbed her eyes. She seemed tired and even more stressed than when they had first met. Then she began to speak. She spoke as if the words were aching to burst out of her. Lilian wondered if she might have said them even if they hadn’t been sat there waiting for her.
“If it’s trouble they want then they are succeeding. All morning I have been putting out fires. ‘Zinnia, what does this mean, Zinnia are we safe, Zinnia should we leave or stay? And of course all I want to say is ‘I don’t know’ but the minute you say that the next thing you hear is ‘are we sure Zinnia is fit to lead is? She never seems to have an answer to anything.” She sighed and said a few words to Stephanie that Lilian didn’t understand. Stephanie nodded and looked at Lilian and jerked her head towards the entrance. Lilian understood the signal and left, calling Fritha to join them as she did. She did it off hand and was delighted to see the Feinhound get up and obediently follow her. Stephanie smiled at the progress,
“I knew you could do it Amelia, I think today we should work more on her fetching and playing yes?” Lilian nodded and Followed Stephanie through Hundsberg to the small square they had worked in the day before. Mr Attorcop had opted to stay behind for the meeting and Lilian was pleased to get to spend the day training again. Stephanie taught her more than she could have hoped for. Every lesson took the form of a game and Lilian quickly discovered Fritha’s playful side as they had her chasing furry toys and balls around the entire square. Once the game had been established Stephanie would show Lilian how to turn the game into a lesson. Chasing the ball was rewarded with a sour berry when the ball was successfully returned. Lilian was instructed to reward Fritha often and quickly so that Fritha would quickly associate a certain action with something she loved. In a matter of hours Lilian was getting Fritha to wait while she walked back the length of the square, she could fetch various objects which she recognised by name alone and she even managed to change colour on command once or twice. Stephanie admitted that Fritha was making exceptionally quick progress.
“It took Leonardo two weeks to learn not to just lie on his back when I said his name! You are a great teacher Amelia and Fritha is a very good pupil. I should expect nothing less from an Angsthund.” They were sitting on a bench drinking fresh water and taking a break from training. Lilian blushed at the complements and then remembered a question she had meant to ask several days ago.
“What does that mean? Angsthund?” Stephanie looked back from watching Leonardo chasing Fritha’s tail and nipping at her ankles.
“Hm? Oh this is what we call Fritha. Angsthund is the legendary spirit of Hundsberg.”
“That’s funny.” Replied Lilian, “Where I’m from, we call them Feinhounds.” The name sparked a memory of Kilde laying traps and nets on a forest floor, it sent a shock of pain running through her chest. She did her best to ignore it and looked at Stephanie who was smiling.
“That’s strange. I like the name Feinhound. I wonder if it comes from “fear-hound.”
“What do you mean?” Asked Lilian.
“Oh. That’s what Angsthund means. Fear-hound. It’s because in all the stories they are very scary.” Lilian thought about this for a second. Maybe the term ‘fear-hound’ had travelled up the mountain from this village and changed into Feinhound. She had always thought it was a Feinhound because it pretended to be things in the stories.
“Can’t dogs sense fear?” She asked, remembering something her mother had told her once about not being scared of animals.
“No,” replied Stephanie, “this is a myth. To do something like that it takes…” Her eyes fell on Fritha as her coat shimmered into a dazzling pink and blue, “It takes a legend.”
Mr Attorcop regretted his decision to stay behind and listen to the meeting. The responses to the new writing from the elders of the town had been slow and predictable. After hearing the fifth old man complain about Zinnia’s lack of leadership and fears that his children were in danger, Mr Attorcop decided to start coughing loudly and used this as an excuse to leave. His mind was partly clouded by lack of sleep but it was still clear enough to show him a path. If he was correct in his assumptions then this whole mess could be concluded by the end of the day, but that might mean putting himself at risk. His shoulder was still hurting from when that blasted dog had knocked him over so if he had to bash a few head together before leaving this place he wouldn’t be sorry. Still… he thought whilst looking at a group of kids playing fetch with their respective pups, he wouldn’t want to face a group of these animals in a fight. He had spoken to Siegfried’s nephew the day before. He had been glad to leave the stinking soldier in the pool of beer and sweat he’d found him in, but felt a pang of sorrow to find out that he was the boy’s only carer. The boy however was chipper and seemed content with playing with his little caramel coloured dog and his friends. When he was questioned about the first message that he found he became mute. Had he found it on his own? No response. Did he remember what it said? A shake of the head. What had he been playing that day behind the main building? A shrug. Frustrated, Mr Attorcop hoped that today’s meeting with the boys uncle would prove more fruitful. He had agreed to meet him again after an extensive chat the day before about the history of Hundsberg. Apparently it had once been a thriving hub of trade, but no one was alive to remember such days. Still, there were, as in every settlement, a disenfranchised few that wished for better things but were unable or unwilling to work to make them happen. This bygone era of trade and glory was one such way of life the boozy dwellers of Der Letzte Tropfen harkened back to when grumbling about the inadequacies of the current establishment. Of course, as was always the case with such people, as soon as they were questioned about the steps needed to make change happen, they would rant and rail about how it wasn’t their responsibility, but that of the elders and governors that were just too lazy or corrupt to do anything about it. They were exactly the kind of people Mr Attorcop had hoped to find and after his conversation that morning with Stephanie his suspicions had been confirmed. He only hoped that last night’s activity hadn’t ruined his plan. It took several days of visiting the dingy bar and pretending to drink the bitter flat beer that they served there. He would laugh at their terrible jokes, play their annoying games and shout loudly to anyone who would listen that he hoped a new message would appear that night, that he hoped the people of Hundsberg would listen to the warnings and leave their town, that he hoped every wall in the entire place was covered in writing. Finally on the 6th day, he was approached by a pale faced man that seemed to know Siegfried. He pulled Mr Attorcop to one side and whispered that he agreed with him. He handed him a note and quickly left, drawing his hood down and whistling to his large, red dog.