Promise: The Scarred Girl (7 page)

The amount of time it takes them to decide gives Nea a large head start. She runs as fast as she can along the forest edge. When she takes time to look, she sees that none of the Carris followers have come after her, but the dog is having trouble keeping up, so she stops.

Completely spent, the dog gasps for air and falls to the ground. Quickly, Nea brings the water bottle out of her bag and pours some water into her palm, which the dog laps up quickly. Only after half the bottle is emptied, does the dog slowly calm down.

Nea laughs and pats him behind the ears, “You’re a hero, you know that?” She praises him, and he seems to nod, panting.

Meeting the dog was probably the best thing to happen to Nea in a long time. For the second time, the dog has saved her life, more or less. She would like to catch and cook a weasel for him, but they do not have the time. Now that she has the habit, she must flee the area as soon as possible and mix in with the Carris before it is known that one of their habits has been stolen. Nea brings the fiery red frock from her backpack and throws it over herself, for she is planning to leave the edge of the forest and go through the open field. She draws the backpack to herself because its contents are too valuable to leave behind. If any of the Carris should see her, she will claim that she is returning from a mission and is the only survivor.

However, she still does not know what to tell them about her small friend. The dog is clever enough that it will probably occur to him that it is odd for them to leave the protection of the forest and head into the open field. She does not know where she is, and therefore hopes a city is nearby so they will not have to sleep in the open unprotected.

In the field, the grass is so high that the little dog cannot look around and has to follow in Nea’s tracks. A breeze blows across the field, it smells deliciously of spring. Although Nea loves this smell, though not nearly as much as the salty smell of the beach and sea water, the smell still takes away part of her troubles for a brief moment. The world is not lost, on the contrary, nature is stronger than ever, and as long as there is nature, there will be life.

A faint ringing pulls Nea out of her thoughts and she looks carefully around. To her left she recognizes a dirt track that leads through the fields. Again, the faint ringing of bells fills the air. Slowly and carefully, she embarks on the path. As they walk on the path, Nea notices that the grass on the other side is much shorter, as if had been mowed recently. There must be a town or other populated area nearby.

Again, more ringing. Together they follow the trail a bit further. The ringing gets louder and louder. It becomes clearer and easier to hear, and then Nea sees for people wearing bright red robes ahead of her.

However, they stand with their backs to Nea, so they cannot see her; this gives her a moment to think. Slowly she moves toward the squad. Around the four Carris members thirty goats graze on the grass, each goat carries a bell on their collar. Running between and around the goats are dogs that are much more attentive than their masters, for they have now noticed Nea and the dog and stand on guard, striking a threatening pose and growling. Now the four Carris turn around to face Nea and her companion. Nea’s companion also assumes a defensive position and begins growling back. The Carris begin eyeing Nea suspiciously. Her throat feels dry and she swallows hard. Now she needs acting talent.

“Stop,” she orders her dog. The dog stops but looks at her questioningly. Nea smiles apologetically and walks toward them. She has always found it difficult to approach other people, but right now she’s trying to act as one of them would act. Her palms are dripping with sweat.

“Hello,” she says as friendly as possible. The four stand a stride’s length from each other; there is no friendliness in their faces. Nea looks to each of them. She sees that there are two men and two women.

“What are you doing here?” One of them says. They still eye her with a curious suspicion.

“I was on a patrol south of here. We were attacked by savages, and in my escape I lost the others in my unit and lost my orientation. I honestly have no idea where I am.”

She looks to the four, trying to see if they believe her story. One of them looks at her dog. “What’s with the dog?”

“This is a beagle, without him I would be dead. He smelled the savages long before we could even see them.”

“Where are the others in your unit?”

“Unfortunately, I do not know. The savages far outnumbered us. Everyone ran as fast as they could. I lost sight of the others and have been alone for several days.

A brief searching glance followed by a slight nod.

“You can stay with us in the city tonight. You should speak to the High Priest to see what you should do next.”

Nea nods to them with a grateful face. The rest of the day, the four barely notice her. While she pretends to rest, they either remain silent or talk together in muffled conversations, so Nea learns nothing from them. The Carris apparently do not trust her, she cannot blame them.

They set off at sunset. Nea slowly overcomes her nervousness, next comes the real difficult part. She must convince the High Priest of her story and make sure it’s convincing, because only then will she be able to freely move amongst the Carris. If he does not believe her, she will probably end up in a cage to wait for the decision of another superior.

The town is not as far away as she thought. From the vast and empty fields, it took several minutes to reach a paved road that led straight into a small village. The entire village consists of small, weathered timbered houses. Many roofs have collapsed due to storm damage. The pathways in the town are cobblestone. After walking through a narrow alley, they enter a kind of courtyard. Across the way is a small chapel. The color of the chapel stings the eye; it was freshly painted a dark red color not too long ago. In addition, the building appears to be completely intact. Neither the roof nor the facade has any damage. Next to the chapel is a large barn. The barn is also in good shape. The remaining half-timbered houses appear pale and seem as though they come from another time.

“Welcome to Shepherd's Field,” says one of the two women. “We will bring the animals to the barn, wait here.” Then they left Nea in the chapel's courtyard while they take the goats to the barn.

None of the other Carris in the area give her much notice, so her camouflage seems to work. Some give her a brief smile, which she politely returns. The dog runs around the courtyard. She sees that a huge portrait was drawn in white on the red chapel. It shows a young man's face. The man's eyes are stinging and full of hate. His mouth is wide as if he were screaming. His hair is chin length and juts out all over his head. He looks scary.

Miro's fist thundered into the wall right next to Nea's head. Startled, she jumped and ducked another blow.

“How dare you try to sell my jacket? Do you not know the difference between mine and yours?” He shouted in anger.

“You still have your coat,” Nea defended herself a little loudly.

Coarsely, Miro grabbed her by the shoulders and began to shake her roughly. “Why did you do that? What have I done to you?”

Nea had tried to sell the leather jacket out of pure jealousy. The blonde had given it to Miro and Nea hated to see him in it every day. But she would not tell him.

“It did not fit you. You are too cool for it,” she claimed defiantly and crossed her arms across her chest defensively.

Miro let out a frustrated cry and thundered his fist against the wall again. When he withdrew it, Nea saw blood dripping from his knuckles.

“Stop that. You will only hurt yourself,” she implored him. Miro looked hesitantly down at her and narrowed his eyes to slits. “No, hurting myself hurts you more than it hurts me.”

One last time, Miro crashed his fist into the rough wall before he angrily stormed away.

“Idiot!” Nea shouted after him. She knew that it would be days, or even longer, before she saw him again. But he would come back, she was sure of it.

Upon reading the caption under the drawing on the wall, Nea recognizes that it is supposed to be an image of Ereb. Under the picture is written, “
Ereb is chaos. Chaos is Ereb.”

At that moment, her faithful companion begins to growl. Startled, she turns around and is almost blinded by the bright yellow robe of the man that stands before her. Nea knows that yellow is the color of an Ereb priest. It is the highest rank that can be reached in the Carris. The man has short hair, light blonde, almost white. His pale skin is nearly translucent, his eyes appear watery. He clearly looks weird. Though he gives Nea a beaming smile, the man still appears to be a chilly sight. Still, she smiles back at the priest and bows humbly before him.

Nea expects that he will tell her to rise, but he remains silent, so Nea remains bowed before him and feels his penetrating gaze upon her back.

Finally, he stretches his hand down to Nea's mouth. Nea could see a ring on the hand. The ring was adorned with a seal, an image of Ereb. In reality, Nea could care less about Ereb and would prefer to tell this priest of her opinion, but she has no choice, so she breathes a kiss on the ring.

“You may rise,” the man says imperiously. Nea already knew that the Carris must be crazy, but she did not think they were also megalomaniacs. She stands up straight and looks the stranger in the eyes without fear. The dog has now hidden behind her. He seems to be afraid of this strange man.

“I'm Urelitas. I have already been informed of your story, but I would like to hear it again from you.”

As he speaks, he keeps his nose high, as if it could touch the sky.

Nea tells him the same thing she had already told the four animal guardians and hopes that the Carris really do send out patrols and sniffer dogs. If not, this priest will know for sure and she will be exposed as a liar.

As Nea ends her story, the man looks at her thoughtfully.

“From what city are you coming?” He asks. Nea is glad that she has already thought of an answer to this question.

“From our beloved city, Fortania. It was always an honor to be able to live so close to Ereb.”

Fortania is the largest city in Dementia and is also the alleged seat of Ereb, if he actually does exist. In addition, Fortania is the southernmost seat of the Carris and thus is closest to her actual target: Promise.

Nea, of course, has never been to Fortania, but it is the only city in the whole of Dementia whose name she knows.

“How true, and I long each day to be allowed to visit Fortania and Ereb. You should return there tomorrow, I'll also send two messengers. Ereb himself will decide where you will be used next.”

Nea tries to hide her joy, Urelitas seems to believe her.

“Thank you very much! You make me the happiest person in the world!” Her words are full of irony, but the priest does not notice anything. He turns up his nose and just walks away.

Nea kneels to her companion and happily holds out her hand, as if the dog could grasp it back. Hilariously, the dog jumps up and wags his tail, happy to be alone with her again. Laughing, Nea takes his paw and gently shakes it with her hand. “We made it!”

A
fter the joy of deceiving Urelitas is gone, she wonders what she should do now. It is already dark and the Carris have retired to their homes. The noises in the barn are getting quieter and she does not know where she should go. Before the noises quiet down completely, she decides to go look in the barn rather quickly to see if anyone is inside.

When she opens the big red barn door, it creaks loudly. In the barn are stacks of hay bales in linen bags and somewhere around 200 sheep and goats herded closely together. But the strangest thing is that dangling from the ceiling is an electric light bulb, illuminating the barn. She has not seen electric light in six years. It is like some kind of miracle.

Nea was firmly convinced that she would only find such a thing in Promise, but seeing one with the Carris in a barn is crazy. Mesmerized, she stares at the lamp. After a few seconds, she realizes she has been caught. She looks down and sees the two smiling faces of the female shepherds she met with earlier in the day.

A few hours before, they seemed distant and standoffish, but now they give her a loving, albeit slightly skeptical, smile. Nea thinks they look similar to each other.

“Do you have no power in the south?”

Nea shakes her head, “Not in the stables,” she is quick to add, to make the women not suspicious.

“We only have power in the stales because they are the most important thing for us. It would be insane to illuminate the stables with candles, with all the hay and straw.”

Nea thinks this is absolutely crazy.

“You need to set up a camp for the night and something to eat, right?” The other woman asks.

Nea confirms her question with a nod.

“We would be happy to help. You can stay in the barn with us tonight if you want. You can bring your dog inside as well.”

“You sleep in the barn?”

“Not every night, but tonight we are guarding the animals, because tomorrow we will accompany you to Fortania. We miss our animals already.”

Nea gives them a sympathetic smile. “I would not go anywhere without my dog,” she says. At first she says this to pretend to understand, but once it is uttered, she feels that it is true. She would miss the dog, even though it has only been with her for two days.

“But it would nice to go to Fortania again. We often went with our parents for shopping before the plague hit. At that time, the city was of course different. There was always something special for us in the big city with all the great shops that did not exist in the villages.” So they were sisters.

Nea sees the glow in their eyes as they tell her about their past. Nea recognizes that the twins were normal girls once, with ordinary pastimes and a penchant for fashion. If they did not wear the red robes, Nea would have never guessed them for being Carris members.

When all the animals are fed, they spread out their sleeping bags. One of the Carris women gives Nea’s companion some dry food to eat. The dog does not look too enthusiastic about the food, but he still cleans his bowl. Even dry food is better than no food.