Dry

The featureless sand glowed almost white in the relentless sun. The sand seemed to stretch on forever in every direction, what was perhaps the worst was its uniform flatness. No hills or other rocks for reference, just a flat expanse. The Wasteland was what they called it, clichéd perhaps, but the best term anyone who had seen it could think of.

A lone figure walked through this desolate realm. The haze from the burning sands would make it impossible to make out the shape of the figure except for glint of light reflecting from metal. The figure was obviously a warrior of some kind.

The Well Keeper peered out from the protection of his house come guard post. The figure he had spotted a few hours back was steadily approaching. Whoever it was would be here in a few minutes and he did not like the look of the figure one bit. It looked like trouble and he could not be doing with trouble, it was more than his jobs worth.

He sat down at his very old kitchen table making sure his crossbow was close by him. He took a drink of the precious water he was charged with protecting. It helped to calm his nerves when trouble came knocking, usually literally. He also had the advantage of not being exhausted by the heat so to be fair most trouble makers he took care of easily, it was burying them that was the hassle…

A loud pounding on his door startled him. The stranger here already? He must have lost track of time.

“Hey you in there!” shouted a slightly husky (probably from thirst, the man thought) female voice. “Open up. I need a drink!”

A woman? It was unusual for a woman to be in these parts on their own but he had lived long enough to know not to let his guard down. He was not going to end up like other Well Keepers and let himself get taken in but an apparently harmless woman before ending up dead in the sands. He intended to live a little longer than that at least until his sentence was over and he could go back home.

“Come on in.” He picked up his crossbow and levelled it squarely at the door. “and don’t try anythin’ funny.”

He heard the woman sigh. “Whatever. I’m coming in.”

The man spat into a bucket propped up next to the table. She was a cheeky one if nothing else. Now to get a proper look at her, he would prefer to not have to put a bolt in her but if it came down to him and her… it was him every time.

The door opened slowly in an almost taunting manner. After what seemed like almost a minute the woman (though when he saw her she liked more like a girl than a grown woman to him) stepped into view and quickly slammed the door shut behind her. She made to move towards him but he brandished his crossbow at her causing her to stop in her tracks. She folded her arms and stood there tapping her heavily booted foot impatiently.

“Stay back and let me get a good look at you, Girlie. I don’t want any funny business.”

The woman made a disgusted sound.

The armour on her right arm and the very large sword on her back caught his attention first. Her face was partly hidden by a large black hat, probably to shield her eyes from the glare of the sun, he thought. She may look like someone in her mid-teens but she was certainly dangerous looking. She had to at least be fairly proficient with that sword, he mused. There was no way she would have made it to here if she was as weak as she looked. There was something unusual about her but before his mind could grasp it - he was interrupted by the woman’s obvious impatience.

“Are all Well Keepers perverts?” She paused. “And who the hell are you calling Girlie!?” she added almost shouting.

The man laughed. “Don’t flatter yourself Girlie. I don’t go in for cheeky little children who think they’re all grown up.”

The sword strapped across her back appeared in her hand quicker than he could follow. He brought the crossbow back up instinctively and levelled it straight at her heart. He has been out here for a long time and he had learned to shoot straight and shoot first – it was the only reason he was still alive today.

The woman snarled.

“You take that back or I’ll cut your crossbow in two and then maybe some other part of you just so you don’t forget.”

The Well Keeper laughed. “You really are full of yourself Girlie. You’re forgettin’ who’s holdin’ the crossbow. Don’t bring a sword to a shootin’ match.”

The girl just smiled and stepped forward. She held her sword out in front of her in a fairly relaxed stance. She held the sword in both hands – it really did look far too big for her but she seemed to hold it easily. He decided not to take his chances.

The bolt shot straight and true to its target. It should have hit her but it did not. Impossibly she managed to twist out of the path of the bolt. One second she was just standing there, the next she was in front of him. The sword came down and cut his crossbow in two lengthwise. He pulled back his hands in astonishment then froze when he felt a dagger against his neck.

“I can’t believe it worked out this time!” the girl exclaimed by his ear. “The last time I tried this I ended up cutting the guy’s fingers off.”

“What!?” shouted the man.

He began to struggle.

“You crazy-” He was cut off by increased pressure from the dagger against his throat.

“Now now,” taunted the young woman. “Don’t struggle. I really don’t want to kill you, you know.”

“So what are you going to do?” he asked remaining as still as he physically could.

The young woman considered for a moment. “I’m not sure really. Like I said the last guy I did this to, was screaming too much that I couldn’t really do this to him. So this is a new experience to me.”

A new experience? Holding his life to ransom was just a new experience to her? This girl was crazy. If he did not think of something fast he was going to end up with his throat cut.

“How about you take the knife away and I’ll forget any of this happened. I’ll even let you take as much water as you want.”

The woman took the knife away and moved to the other side of the table and sat down with her legs on the table. For the first time he realised how freakishly pale her skin was. “That sounds fine to me.” she brandished the dagger before slipping it into a sheath at her waist. Impossibly she must have sheathed her sword before she had pulled out the dagger. She was so quick, too quick when he thought about it.

“But no funny business,” she said imitating him as best as she could.

He looked mournfully at the remains of his crossbow and pushed a wooden jug full of water towards her across the table grudgingly, he did not bother giving her a cup.

The woman sat up. She took it and drank greedily from it for a worryingly long time. Finally she plunked it down on the table and sighed in contentment. She smiled and took of a large black hat she was wearing. Her long red hair spilled down to her shoulders. She was fairly attractive in a crazy pale freak sort of a way thought the Well Keeper.

“Thanks, I really needed that,” she said in a far clearer voice than before. She still sounded so young to the Well Keeper.

There was an awkward silence as the captive and the captor looked at each other. There was a faint smile on the woman’s face as if she considered this situation amusing. The man did not like it one bit, the sooner she was out here the better for him.

“So what’s your name?” she asked suddenly.

“Gus,” grunted the man.

“Nice name.” The way she said it sounded almost automatic rather than a genuine complement.

“You mind if I ask you a question?”

“Depends what it is,” replied Gus. “As long as it makes you leave sooner.”

The woman put her feet back on the table and looked up at the pitted ceiling. The thought of using this opportunity to strike back at her occurred to Gus but he dismissed it immediately. She was so damn fast he would probably have a knife in his gut before he had a chance to stand up.

“I’m looking for someone.”

“Who?” he asked even though a feeling in the pit of his stomach told him he would not like what she would say. He took a deep breath to try and steady his nerves.

“I’m looking for the Deceiver of Men.”

Gus almost fell of his chair. He coughed as his breath caught in his throat. She really was insane if she was serious.

“Are you serious?” he managed to gasp out in-between coughs.

“Would I be asking if I wasn’t?” the woman asked in irritation.

“I guess not,” he mumbled. “But how can you even consider looking for him. He’s evil. He’s inhuman. He feeds on fear. He feeds on pain. He can make anyone believe anythin’ he says. How can you even fight someone like that?”

The woman sighed and sat back up again. She rested her chin on her un-armoured hand. She wore a disappointed expression on her face.

“I already know all that, what I want to know is if you had heard he was somewhere.”

Gus shook his head. “I’m sorry I don’t know. He rarely leaves survivors when he comes to a town so it’s almost impossible to know where he is. I still think you’re insane to even try and look for him.”

The woman smiled. “I’m not really looking for him. I’m really looking for his mistress.”

This time he did fall of his chair. He stood up despite the weakness he felt in his knees. How could such a young person be so eager to throw their life away? It did not seem like youthful bravado. There was something else behind her motives.

“You’re not crazy. You’ve got a death wish. No one who has ever met Her has ever survived.”

The young woman rolled her eyes. “She has a name you know.”

The man looked around as if he was being watche., “I know but no one says it out loud. She might hear you.”

The woman laughed bitterly. “If the Ice Queen was really that all-powerful she would have no need for the Deceiver of Men or her other minions.”

The man shivered despite the heat of the desert the house stood in. She sounded so bitter when she spoke of the Ice Queen. So that was it, she wanted revenge against her. That hardly made the girl unique in the world apart from maybe she was more skilful than the majority.

“You have a death wish. Haven’t you seen the devastation she leaves behind in her wake?”

The woman clenched her fists. Her body shook with pent up fury. He could not believe someone so young could have so much pain and anger in them. A single tear rolled down her white cheek.

“Of course I bloody well know what she leaves behind. I know all about how she turns people against each other. How she tears families and communities apart by offering them a reprieve in exchange for a handful of sacrifices. I know it all because I’ve lived through it all and now I want to find her again to take back what she took from me.”

Gus felt bad, the girl was clearly distraught but he could not think of anything to say. He now understood where the attitude came from. He pitied her.

“I’m sorry.”

The girl looked up. Tears were welling up in her eyes and it was obvious she was trying to hold them back. More than ever she looked like a youth trying desperately to appear like the adult she was not. She angrily brushed away the tears and tried to compose herself.

“You didn’t do anything. So what have you got to apologise for?” she said from behind her arm as she brushed her hair out of her eyes.

“I was just trying to be comforting… you looked so sad,” he added.

The woman snarled; the mask was back on.

“I don’t need any comfort. All I want is information and it’s clear you don’t have any. Just fill up my canteen and then I’ll be gone. Just forget me once I’m gone.”

Gus could only nod in the face of her anger. He took the proffered canteen from the outstretched hand of the girl and filled it up before handing it back to her.

He sighed. She was such a pitiable child - so young yet so bitter. She would not last long in this harsh world. She should be in some village somewhere helping out her parents and maybe even going around with some nice lad she met. She should not be trudging about this wasteland chasing phantoms. There was no way she was ever going to find either of the things she was looking for and if by some miracle she did – she would die far too long before her time.

Such a waste.

The young woman stood up and made to leave. She opened the door and walked out. She paused at the threshold.

“Thanks,” she muttered.

Then she was gone leaving Gus on his own. He looked out of one of his lookout points and saw her travelling in the direction she had been going along before she stopped in here. Despite everything she had done to him he could not help but feel some strange affection for her. Maybe it was her age or maybe it was the terrible loneliness inside her that he also felt out here. Sentenced to ten years as a Well Keeper for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Separated from his wife and children. It was unfair but he could do nothing about it.

Where he thought about it – his daughter would be about the same age as the young woman right about now. That thought made him feel even more depressed than usual.

Gus sighed. That was enough. This was just getting ridiculous now.

The Deceiver of Men shrugged off the personality he was wearing like a cheap costume. The slightly overweight form of Gus disappeared to be replaced by a tall thin man wearing black clothes, black gloves, black cape and black broad-brimmed hat. The wind blowing across the desert made his cape flutter. It was quite dramatic which was exactly how he liked it.

He smiled.

The experience he has just had had been interesting. He had not learned anything new per se but he now had a good idea about how to play her when the time finally came for their confrontation. He would have preferred it that there was never one but he knew deep down that it was their destinies. The two of them would meet again in open combat. He knew he would win. He always won but it was how he won that mattered most to him. If Aleya did not lie completely broken at his feet then it was a defeat for him.

He really wanted to continue to follow her but unfortunately his mistress had other ideas. She was getting hungry again and she needed her trusty herald. It was irritating in a way. Life was so very interesting now but the Ice Queen was his mistress and he could not disobey her. He felt the impatience rising in him.

All in good time, purred a woman’s voice in his head.

He smiled again. It seemed that his mistress had need of him.

The man in black vanished leaving no trace but the vacant remains of a burnt down Well House. It looked like it had been abandoned for years.

It probably had been.