66

THE SEARCH.

CLEON.

“Tell us the truth and die a simpler death, or withhold it and die from our torture which you have already tasted!” Onias, a Wolf with orange hair, barked at me, revealing his set of golden teeth, on his knuckles were the silver rings he used for fighting they were thin and sharp, they looked harmless until you felt them across your face in deep gashes, I suspected they had even been lined with poison, because the place he had scratched me on my knee with them had swollen and turned purple, and were stinging me unusually.

I had not been previously trained to resist torture, my head was banging loudly and my eyes itched.

“I’ve told you before that my name is Herbert, I am a lone wolf and Merchant from the west.” I pleaded with Onias again, I had repeated my story over and over to them that my throat was sore, I was even starting to convince myself that I really was Herbert, and that there was no one else I could possibly be.

“relentless, aren’t you? Bring in the hot towels!” Onias ordered, the other wolves scurried around to effect his order. The room had been silent since Onias arrived, a thought crossed my mind that he was a higher-up, but why would they send somebody important to take care of this when they had their hands full with an Orhert, was there something wrong within their ranks?

Finally, the wolves arrived with a bucket of hot towels, the towels where not exactly towels — they were thorn fields. My heart beat wildly against my chest as Onias smiled wickedly at me. I was unstrapped from the floor, and strapped to the floor with my back bare and wet with sweat.

“How about now? Do you remember where you are from now? How about the name ‘Jason’ does it ring a bell, or do I ring it for you?!” He screamed at me, preparing his tools of torture.

“Wait! I do know a Jason, just wait.” I begged, I had barely eaten anything since I left from on my journey in the morning. I was not so hungry, but I was tired and it made my insides grumble in disapproval of the treatment I was being dished.

“Spill it pussy cat!” Onias yelled again.

“Um, I have a nephew back in Germany, his mama named him Jason, although I warned her that Jason was not a good name for a young boy growing in a foreign land. I told her all the Jason’s I’ve read about were all misfortunate, but she wouldn’t listen to me. She’s got a hard head, that sister of mine. And to think her name is as sweet as Mirabel. We haven’t spoken in a long while, I Don’t know anything more about her son Jason, I just know he’s still too young to be causing trouble, and he don’t leave around here, unless he ran away from home. If he did run away from home, his mother would have called me first, she only remembers me when there’s trouble, or when I run into a fortune…” I ranted, acting oblivious to the fury spreading across Onias’s features, his nose and eyes twitched, and his earlobes became a hot red.

“You blatant fool!” He screamed, picked a rolled up hot towel and brought it down on my bare back brutally, I smelled the metal of my own blood slipping into the floor, but all I knew was that I was Herbert, my cover and I had come together like two miscible liquids, and there was no other truth. All of this was my determination to keep the memories of August alive and meaningful. The August I knew would never have wanted me to this, she would rather I turned lone and spent the rest of my days peacefully on a country farm, whistling old solos and harvesting abundant crop. But her death was like a complicating formula, a mess of oil and water where they could not mix, and still you could not separate them naturally. My life was no longer as simple as it was since she was no longer here, when all I had to do was to love and protect her.

A hit after the other, my blood pooled around me. Onias was furious, the other wolves simply watched with fear in their eyes, it was confirmed that Onias was an important and fearful person in the pack. I became dizzy as I lost a lot of blood, still I kept muttering.

“I only came to do business. Please don’t kill me. I only came to do business, Pease don’t kill me.”

“I have a family back west. I have two beautiful girls, please don’t kill me.” And everything went blank. I could hear movements around me, and a hand thumping at my chest, but the hand that pulled me away from consciousness was firmer.

I awoke in a different room, with a bad headache. I was still blindfolded, but I could tell it was different room because of the atmosphere, it was no longer below earth musty, I could breathe freely now, meaning we were now in a room with windows, I could smell a sweet fragrance on the air — like morning flowers. I could ask tell that Onias was no longer there to torture me. I lay still as though I had not woken and just listened to my environment. It was kinder, my muscles relaxed.

“I can tell you’re awake.” Came a girl’s voice, she stretched over me and tugged off the blindfold, I opened my eyes and I was almost blinded by the bright light that the room was soaked in. The girl had dropped a bowl of soup in front of me, and the aroma tickled my nostrils with it’s sweetness.

“Go on, eat Herbert. It’s not poisoned, you’re in safe hands now.” She said and smiled brightly at me. I tried to sit up but my back pulsed with pain, I should have healed by now, I thought.

“Yes, you should have, but Onias never uses normal weapons, all his weapons are laced with poison.” She said, placing her hand gently at my back and helped me sit up. She spooned hot soup into my mouth and my insides were filled with a calming warmth.

“How did you know what I was thinking? Who are you?”

“My name is Mirabel, and I am the seer of the Fawnhide pack. The goddess is universal, just like good is universal. Now eat up, you’ve been summoned to a meeting by eleven, you don’t want to be late.”