Enigmatic Fantasies #13 - A Stranger Part 3

This part turned out way longer than intended and had to be cut in two. Even then it's still the longest part so far.
With that being said, enjoy the story.
First Part
Second Part

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A Stranger

Part 3: A Trail That Leads To Nowhere

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            The dimly lit room contained only a single man, he sat at a small wooden table in the center of the room. He stared idly at the cloth banners hung on the wall, and occasionally glanced at the closed wooden door across from his position. He wore a fine, metal armor, which covered his whole body. Although, the helmet was currently placed on the table. A well-maintained longsword was sheathed on his left side, a thick book labeled "Law" was buckled to his right. His light brown hair showed a hint of red in the candlelight, and his facial hair was well-groomed.

            "Jonathon," a fully armored man emerged from the door, "I have our mission." This man stood tall over the other, his armor was similar, but was far more ornate.

            "Finally," Jonathon sighed, "what is so important that the king had to see you in person Master Galatine?"

            "Watch your tongue apprentice," Galatine warned.

            "Apologies, I spoke out of turn," the younger man bowed.

            "As for our mission," the older man continued. "The king wants us to find a specific person and bring them in for questioning."

            "A specific person? Where those his exact words?" Jonathon inquired.

            "Unfortunately yes," Galatine admitted. "He does not know this person's name, their origin, their trade or even if they hold a title of importance. He referred to them as a Stranger in these lands, and is concerned they hold some kind of agenda."

            "Master, may I have permission to speak freely?" The apprentice asked.

            "You may," his master confirmed.

            "Master Galatine, I already feel a bitter taste in my mouth for taking direct orders from the royalty," the young man explained. "Now I hear he is sending us on a hunt for an enigma. This sounds like a fool's errand."

            "I understand your concerns Jonathon," Galatine assured him. "However, the enigmatic nature of this person is the reason for his fear. Reports claim they suddenly appeared in a backwater village some months back. From there have cultivated a trail of surreal events, or at least that's what the king said."

            "Sounds like a rogue mage," Jonathon commented.

            "Exactly," his master confirmed, "our superiors had the same idea."

            "You waited until now to tell me this?" The apprentice asked.

            "I thought it would be good for you to figure it out on your own," Galatine chuckled, "it's good practice."

            "You got me there master," Jonathon smiled, "so what's our first move?"

            "We'll start at the beginning," Galatine answered. "The village this Stranger first appeared in. The locals should have some helpful information."

            "The only reason we'd be starting there is that we have no clue where the Stranger is right now," Jonathon realized.

            "That's the truth," Galatine admitted. "However, this will be a good learning experience for you, Jonathon."

            "Understood," the apprentice acknowledged, "so what's this village like anyway?"

            "As I said, it's a backwater," the master replied, "it's completely unremarkable and out of the way. I wouldn't expect anything more than a dozen cottages and a farm."

~--~

            "Master Galatine?" Jonathon looked to his superior.

            "Yes?" Galatine answered, but did not even spare his apprentice a glance.

            "You said this place was a backwater, I'm not remembering that wrong right?" the apprentice asked.

            "You are correct Jonathon," the master confirmed.

            "Just making sure," Jonathon turned back to the sight before him, "So what's this then?" The two armored men looked on at the bustling small town before them. Where they expected to be a small, dinky village was a prosperous town. Which also possessed clear signs of continued growth.

            There were more than a couple dozen homes of various sizes, in addition to a half dozen stores. The town was flanked by at least four small farms. Most of the buildings looked practically brand new. As though construction finished no more than a few weeks beforehand. Some buildings were still under construction but were very near completion. The only exception was a large town hall styled building at the far end of the town which was half-finished.

            "If I were to hazard a guess," Galatine theorized, "it seems our information is out of date. Think of this as a chance to correct that inaccuracy, follow me."

            The two men strode into town, with Galatine at the lead. They earned their fair share of gawks and stares from the townsfolk. A few lightly armored residents, whom the two assumed where the town guard, stood ramrod stiff and avoided their gaze. The pair approached a particularly large villager who was dressed in fine clothing and carried a large coin purse.

            "Excuse me, sir could we ask some questions about the town?" Jonathon inquired.

            "What? I'm a very busy man could you-" The large villager turned towards the duo, his prior sentence quickly died in his throat. "Oh my apologies," the large man changed his tone, "to what reason do we owe your presence your honors." A line of sweat dribbled down the man's forehead, right passed his forced smile.

            "Firstly we are on the trail of a Stranger in these parts," Galatine explained. "They are clearly foreign and very enigmatic. We received word a person matching this description had made a stop in your...town several months ago."

            "A stranger?" The large man scratched his chin. "Oh her, yeah there was that foreign lady who stopped in town for a little over a month, but that was half a year ago. She just sort of came and went. A lot of people say she chased off a pack of bandits single-handedly, but I don't believe them. I mean, I heard the scuffle that night, but I didn't see anything."

            "Bandits came to town?" Jonathon inquired, "And you didn't see it?"

            "N-no your honor," the villager stuttered. "It was late at night and I was s-sleeping. I didn't wake up until I heard a commotion outside and by then the bandits were gone." The armored master and apprentice stared down the man but made no direct comment.

            "I see," Galatine nodded. "We'll get back to the Stranger in a moment. Right now I wish to inquire about something that has bothered me since my apprentice and I have arrived."

            "Anything your honor," the large villager assured.

            "I was under the initial impression this was a small village based on my reports," the master gestured towards their surroundings. "Yet, upon our arrival, this was clearly a bustling small town in active development. How long has this been the case?"

            "I'd say," the large man considered, "the town has grown significantly in the past third of a year, give or take a month."

            "Interesting," Galatine commented, "next question..."

~--~

            The master and apprentice continued their investigation around the town. Their questions were more often than not met with unique results.

            "That Stranger woman? Yeah, she was a piece of work," a farmer from the town answered their question. "Those bandits called her a witch, and I agree with them. She was always hiding in that old cottage, hoarding food and maps. I knew she was up to something, I bet she left when she realized I was onto her." Jonathon jotted the farmer's responses down in a notebook. Galatine stood nearby, the older man occasionally shot a glance towards the farm itself.

            "On another note how has your farm been performing in the past year?" Jonathon asked.

            "Oh, it was nothing special at first, but the last few months have been great," the farmer exclaimed. "Good harvest, a quality crop and lots of buyers in town recently. But what's that got to do with that foreign lady?"

            "Just covering our bases," Galatine answered as he approached, "Jonathon next question..."

~--~

            "The foreign woman? She was polite and a hard worker too," a local baker woman answered the duo's question. "Her speech was very rough, but she was getting a lot better near the end."

            "Interesting," Galatine recorded her answer. "What do you know of the Stranger's fight with the bandits?"

            "Fight?" The woman gasped, "she didn't fight them, they attacked her. I mean they didn't actually manage to hurt her but..." The baker trailed off.

            "They attacked her, but didn't actually hurt her?" Jonathon pointed out the discrepancy in her statement.

            "Well I couldn't see what was happening very well," the woman admitted. "She talked to them, the biggest one got angry at her and tried to shoot her and I think he missed."

            "He missed his shot and that was it?" Galatine urged her to continue.

            "No," the baker lady continued, "he had a lot of guns, but never landed a shot. His sword broke too, then all the bandits started screaming and ran away. She must have been truly blessed to survive that day."

            "She must have been," Galatine agreed, "let's change topics, you said she was a hard worker?"

            "Oh certainly your honor," the woman smiled. "She never complained, she kneaded dough quickly and always cleaned up after herself." The baker woman giggled, "oh, I just remembered something funny. The day she helped us was the same day our dog came back home. He'd been gone for over a month, then the foreign woman asked about the dog on our porch and there he was."

            "What a pleasant coincidence," the master commented, "Jonathon are you writing this down?"

            "Y-yes Master Galatine," Jonathon quickly complied, "next question..."

~--~

            "The foreign woman? I knew her quite well" The old villager revealed to the pair. "She had a past she had no intention of sharing, but I don't think she is a witch or anything of the sort."

            "What makes you believe so?" Jonathon asked the old man.

            "She carried herself very humbly," the old villager explained. "She maintained a constant indifference and seemed to drift from one day to the next." The old man leaned onto his cane and looked the two dead in the eye, "she is no witch, she is something else entirely. Unfortunately, this has scared many of the villagers."

            "You think she's dangerous?" Jonathon inquired.

            "No your honor," the old man chuckled, "but I wouldn't blame you for thinking that."

            "Very well," Galatine sighed, "you said you knew her well, do you know anything more personal about her. A name, a homeland, a profession or even an obsession?"

            "I must apologize your honors," the old man lowered his head. "I don't know if she held any profession, and when I asked of her home she only described it as a faraway place. As for her name, she tried to tell me, but it was in her foreign tongue. It sounded like utter nonsense to me. However, she was quite obsessed with studying some old maps she bought from a merchant. I never learned the reason why."

            "Next question," the master stated, "where did the Stranger go?"

            "Well your honor, I don't know where she went," the old villager admitted, "but I can tell you how. It was late one night, a little over a week after the bandit attack. A small merchant caravan had passed through the town that day, she hitched a ride with them as they left that night. She left without a goodbye or warning. I was simply lucky enough to cross her path as she left."

            "Do you know the names of this caravan?" Jonathon asked.

            "I think they were," the old man tried to remember, "Richter & Co, or was it Richard & Co? It's been so long."

            'If it was so long ago I doubt we'll get the real answer,' Galatine thought. "We would like to ask a few more questions," he continued.

            "Certainly your honor," the old man agreed.

~--~

            Within a couple of days, Galatine and Jonathon questioned every one of note in the town. They shifted their focus forward and followed the roads frequented by merchant caravans. There was a vain hope they'd encounter the merchant the old man spoke of. However, their real goal was to stop at every town along the way that reported the Stranger's presence. Every time they were met with a familiar dialogue.

            "A foreign lady? Yeah, I remember someone like that coming through here. She did some odd jobs for a couple days then rode off with some merchants," a resident from one village explained.

            "A stranger in these lands? Well, there was that one woman," a caravan merchant recalled. "She rode with us for about a week, bought some old maps in exchange for labor. Poor girl left right before we hit a big sale."

            "The foreign witch? She came through here alright," a guard in a small city claimed, "chased her off first chance I got. I'm dead certain she was responsible for all the tax money going missing that week."

            Everywhere the two men went they heard a different variation of the same story. No matter how much they learned they felt no closer to their goal. As their well of information began to dry, Galatine was struck with a realization.

            "My apprentice, we are running low on leads," the master looked to his pupil, "what do you suppose we do?"

            "Change tactics?" Jonathon guessed.

            "In a manner of speaking," Galatine replied. "With so little to go on, we must grasp at even the smallest most insignificant clues. It likely won't lead us anywhere, but it is better than flying blind."

            "What do you suggest master?" The apprentice inquired.

            "I have a theory," Galatine explained. "The old man from the first town said the woman was studying old maps, and the merchants corroborated that fact."

            "And that means?" Jonathon was clueless.

            "She's looking into old maps, which means her goal might be related," Galatine proposed. "It's not much to go one, but we should start poking around older towns and ruins. If we're lucky we'll find some evidence of her presence. At the very least we should keep this in mind as we try to chart her route."

            "If you say so master," Jonathon nodded. The pair returned to their quest with a changed focus. They went out of their way to stop in the oldest places they could. Ancient ruins, abandoned towns, old cities, whatever met their broad criteria. It took some time, but within the month they found a real lead. As they encountered more people who spoke of the Stranger, the pair managed to trace the Stranger's path through the land.

            "I think I know where she's going," the master proclaimed as he pulled out a set of maps.

            "Master what's with those," the younger man commented.

            "One of the merchants had a spare copy of a map he sold to the Stranger," Galatine revealed. "The old man was right, these are fairly old maps, and incredibly out of date. No wonder she was able to buy so many."

            "So where is she going," Jonathon looked down at the map eagerly.

            "If my theory is correct she's following a defunct trade route," the master traced his finger along the map. "Parts of it are still used today, but it's mostly unused because the city it once lead to no longer exists as a political entity." Galatine pointed to a large city on the old map, then to the same spot on a more recent map where the city was not marked.

            "So that's her goal, why?" Jonathon asked.

            "We'll just have to ask her when we find her," Galatine affirmed. "It's only a day's travel to the fallen city if we take this faster route. If she's following the normal route we'll arrive just in time to catch her. Prepare yourself, Jonathon, we may be in for a fight."

            "Yes master Galatine," the apprentice accepted his teacher's command. The two men made haste to the fallen city, ready for whatever they may encounter.

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The plot thickens. Normally I'd have more to say, but I'll save my thoughts for next week's part. I promise it'll make sense when we get there.

Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy.
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