unsplash-logoNong Vang

Outcasts

            Kodi got up from his bed as the dark night sky gave way to the first light of dawn. He started to dress but paused when he looked back and saw Elean sprawled out in the bed next to where he just was. Her eyes were closed in a deep sleep, a relaxed smile touched her lips, and the point of her ears peaked out from her raven-colored hair. Kodi bent down and tucked her hair behind that pointed ear and kissed it softly. Memories of his father's hate-fueled rages pushed their way forward and he forced them back. Elean stirred but didn’t wake. He finished getting dressed and took the bow she made for him from its place above the door. The yew wood curved back on itself just before it met the string.

Kodi opened the door and a chill wind wafted into the cabin. He shivered and took his cloak off a hook. His wife groaned in protest and pulled the covers closer to her body. Kodi closed the door behind him and started to trek into the forest. The morning air was filled with the scent off grass and dead leaves. So far from civilization, there were no noticeable paths to walk, so Kodi walked through the underbrush. He stepped carefully, trying not to make a sound, but the dried leaves made it difficult. A squirrel’s chatter broke through the calm morning air. When he finally spotted the squirrel, it was gathering its breakfast. He reached toward his back and grasped at the air. He cursed his forgetfulness as he slung his now useless bow on to his back. He was used to forgetting his arrows.

He continued to walk through the forest, his stride less careful, crunching leaves and breaking twigs on the ground. The squirrel caught sight of him and darted away, dropping some of its nuts, which Kodi was happy to pick up and put in his pockets.

He walked down to the river, picking up ginseng and mint leaves as he went. He filled the waterskin and checked a few of the traps, finding a few wild mushrooms along the way. There was a rabbit caught in one and he brought it home along with the rest of what he had gathered.

By the time he got home Elean had woken up and built a fire. “You forgot your quiver again,” she greeted.

“I got distracted by the beautiful woman in my bed.” She smiled.

“Did you catch anything?”

“No, but you did.” His face was sullen.

Elean looked at her husband. She kissed his cheek and wrapped her arms around him. “A thousand miles from your parents and their fields and you’re still controlled by their nonsense. If we’re going to survive out here, we both have to play to our strengths.” Kodi nodded and Elean smiled. “Good, do you want me to get breakfast started?”

“Are you kidding me? After all the hard work I put into finding this stuff, I’m not going to let you burn the soup.” They both grinned and Elean gave him an inquisitive look. “Ok, you probably wouldn’t burn the soup, but like you said, we both have to play to our strengths.” Kodi set down the water skin and grabbed the water jug and a cloth. After tying to cloth tight over the mouth of the jug, he started to pour the water from his waterskin through it with careful, steady hands. When the water was strained of sediment, he poured some of it into a pot and placed it over the fire while he picked out some of the more useful minerals from the sediment.

“Get anything good this morning?” Elean asked.

“I found some wild mushrooms you might like, some mint and ginseng for tea tonight,” Kodi paused, “and it looks like the river has gifted us with a bit of iron flakes.”

“Oh? Can you use it in potions?”

“Oils mostly. If I can find the right kinds of seeds, I can coat your arrows, so they stay sharp and don’t rust.”

Elean wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck. “I would very much appreciate that. Can you make something that can clean them better too?”

Kodi kissed her back. “Sorry love. I left that recipe back home. I’m not too keen on going back to get it.”

Elean shrugged and pulled Kodi back onto her lap and kissed him again. Before anything else could happen, the water started to boil. Kodi took the lid off and stirred the pot. “My love, could you fetch some of yesterday’s deer meat from the cellar? And some parsley and rosemary.”

Elean skipped over to a trap door in the corner of their cabin and disappeared behind it. A moment later she came back up with stew meat, and a handful of herbs. Kodi tossed the meat into the pot and ground up the herbs in his hands. Slowly, as the meat began to stew, he added the herbal mixture a pinch at a time until, after the last pinch was added, he spoke a few soft words and the pot was moved gently off the fire by an unseen force. “Breakfast is served.”

Just as Kodi finished ladling soup into a bowl for each of them, the door burst open and a ragged figure dressed all in animal pelts fell across the threshold. Elean jumped for him and caught him just before he hit the ground. His face was gaunt, and his eyes were sunken in and bloodshot. That coupled with his silver hair and beard made it nearly impossible to guess at his age. She shed his outer pelts and set him on the bed. The man began to cough violently and Kodi grabbed a cup of water.

“Please. I need shelter,” the man said through fitful coughs.

“That’s not all you need. How long have you been wandering outside?”

The man tried to answer but his coughing fits kept him from getting out anything more than a few groans. Kodi put his hand on the man’s forehead. “You’re burning up. Elean, keep him hydrated. I need to go out and gather some supplies. If he’s going to get better, he needs our help.”

Elean didn’t hesitate. She took their teapot and, after filling it with water and peppermint leaves, she set it over the fire to brew. Kodi walked out of the cabin into the still chill morning air. When he was gone, Elean tried getting the mysterious man to drink more water, but he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her close to his face. “Please,” he said. He clenched himself against his coughing and tried to continue. “I… they… will…” he began coughing again.

Elean stood the man up and brought him closer to the fire. His coughing fit lasted until the tea was finished brewing. Elean took a new cup and filled it with the warm liquid. Elean pressed the hot cup into the man’s ice-cold hands and helped him drink deeply. While he drank, Elean whispered a light chant and focused her mind on the peppermint’s soothing properties. The man set the empty cup down and smiled at her. “How do you feel?”

“Well enough to speak at least,” he said. His throat sounded dry and scratched, but his words came out clear. “Your kindness is very appreciated. I apologize if I scared you.”

“It’s no problem. I just wasn’t expecting it was all. You seemed very distressed.”

“Yes, part of that was because of the cough, but it’s mostly for the same reason I am out in the cold wilderness in the first place.” He shed the rest of his pelts to reveal a set of cleric’s vestments and a silver crescent moon on then end of a thick silver chain.

“You’re a cleric of the Night God.”

“I was. I am no longer. I was accused of heresy and exiled from the church and my homeland.”

“You lived in Calcut then?”

The ex-cleric nodded. “I was once a mid-level member of the Church of the Moon’s clergy, but that changed when I began to study some of our more ancient teachings. I found them hidden away in the records of the temple to which I was assigned. The things are learned were a far-cry different from what the High Priest was teaching. At first, I tried incorporating both into my services and sacrifices. As I studied the records further, though, it became apparent that the two doctrines were incompatible. It became clear that I had to choose.”

“What sort of records could have changed you so completely?”

“It started with just a list of names and dates. The list was torn, so I didn't have the top. Once I found a more complete one, my interest was piqued." The ex-cleric started to cough again. Elean refilled his cup and helped him tip more of the warm tea into his mouth. After a few sips he continued. "The sacred rite at the top of the list seemed to indicate that the list contained names and turning dates for--" he was cut off by another coughing fit, "for lycanthropes. Werewolves."

"Was there some sort of scourge?"                            

"No, according to the rites, and documents I found later, it was a sect of clerics who chose to become lycanthropes. They called themselves the Hunting Pack of the Night."

"Who would purposefully make themselves a werewolf? I thought werewolves were nothing but savage brutes."

The ex-cleric cleared his throat. It sounded like a low growl. "You think that because that is what the Church teaches now. There's a small kernel of truth in there. Before--" he coughed and drank from the mug. When he put it down, Elean refilled it from the steaming pot. "Sorry, before they are able to gain control over their bestial side, most lycanthropes are little more than animals. Some of the writings I found describe them as being akin to rabid bears." Elean nodded her head, but the cleric continued. "When they master it though, they gain strength and agility that is unmatched in all the sentient races."

"To what end? Did these clerics seek power?"

"Not solely power. They believed that they were chosen by the King of the Night. They believed they had been chosen to uphold his tenants of freedom. They fought against tyrants and protected the natural world." The cleric began a cough so violent he started to gag, and Elean grabbed a bucket from nearby and shoved it into his arms.

"So where are they now? Do you know? Are you trying to find them?"

The cleric shook his head. "I doubt there are many, if any, left in the world."

"What happened?"

The cleric tried to clear his throat again with that low growl-like sound. He sneezed and blew out a puff of air and snot while shaking his head. Elean eyed him carefully. Her eyes moved toward her bow as he began speaking again. "I'm not sure. If I had to guess, it would be that they were powerful in a way that was different from the normal way, so the people who were in charge started to ostracize them eventually leading to declaring them full-blown heretics."

"That seems rather bitter coming from someone who was part of that normal power structure."

He shook his head. His brow was knit together, and his eyes were unfocused, thinking. “I haven’t been a part of them since they started hunting me.”

Just then, the door opened and Kodi came in holding armfuls of herbs he had just gathered from the wilderness outside. “Open his shirt,” he said. Elean did so without hesitation. The cleric’s chest was almost completely covered in silver hairs. His skin was tight against an almost sickly skinny body. Kodi began grinding the herbs with a mortar and pestle. The small cabin was quickly filled with a pungent alkaline smell. Kodi grabbed a bottle of clear liquid from one of the shelves and poured a slight amount in and mixed it with the powder he had created. The bowl grew almost imperceptibly warmer, and Kodi began to whisper a chant. He continued to add in his mixture of wood alcohol and distilled water until the powder had become a thick paste. He continued his chant and the bowl became even warmer. Soon he began spreading it on the stranger’s chest.

Elean watched the stranger closely, thinking about all she had seen and heard. She wanted to talk to Kodi about what she had learned, but when he was working, few things could distract him.

When the paste had been spread on the visitor’s chest, Kodi took the water jug and a rag to a basin and pour some of the water out. He wetted the rag and placed it on the man’s forehead. He seemed to be breathing easier now, and the coughing had all but stopped. After wiping away some of the sweat from his forehead, Kodi rang out the rag, re-wetted it and replaced it on his forehead. Then, he got a bowl and ladled some soup into it. The cleric sat up as Kodi brought the bowl to him. Kodi spooned soup into his mouth between long, deep breaths.

Elean was still watching him closely, as if waiting for him to turn right in front of them, when she noticed something around his neck. It was all the way against his neck, as if something was hanging from it down his back. “What’s that?” she asked.

The cleric looked down and pulled the rest of it in front of him. It was a crescent moon, the symbol of The Church of the Night, but it shone with a silvery light. “It’s made from silver and enchanted. I’m guessing you’ve already figured out what I am. I keep this on me to keep me from turning until I can get somewhere safe. I don’t want to hurt anyone, but I can’t ignore the call of my God when I hear it.”

“You truly believe that this is what he wants? For you to go chasing after long dead cults?”

“He gave me those records, he led me to them and showed me the ritual for becoming what I am.”

“To what end? What could he possibly want from all this?”

“To protect people from the tyrannical rule of a Church that’s lost its way. I’m certain he wants to restore it, but in the meantime he needs people like me to protect the people who are being branded heretics and demon worshipers!” The pendant on his necklace began to glow a little brighter. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. “I must go.” He got up and started putting on his rags, but Elean stepped in front of him.

“If you think I’m going to let you walk out of this cabin so that you can maul some poor innocent people, you’re dead wrong.”

The pendant got brighter still, and the cleric’s expression became something like a pained snarl. His knuckles went white around his hide cloak. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“And I don’t want you to hurt anyone else, so it seems we’re at an impasse.”

Kodi put a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “We came here because there was no one else around for miles. If this man, or whatever he is, walks out that door tonight, and into the forest around our cabin, we will be the only people in danger. Give me your arrows.” Elean handed them over. “Is it true what they teach about silver? That it is an effective weapon against your kind.” The cleric nodded. Kodi took a small jar of paste down from the shelves and grabbed the iron dust from earlier. “Give me three days and I can turn this paste silver. Then, if you try and attack us, Elean can shoot you dead without a second thought.”

“What if he gains control over his other form?”

“Then I believe he will do what he says. He’ll use his newfound powers to protect people from the Church. I, for one, have no loyalties to it, and if he wants to fight them, let him. I will be content living the rest of my days out here with you.”

Elean thought for a moment, then nodded. “What about the three days it will take you to make the paste? What will we do with him then?”

“Avoid and evade. It’s what I do best,” Kodi said.

The cleric paused for a moment, then dropped to his knees. The glow of the pendant subsided and he took a deep breath. “Your husband is right. If I can’t control my other side, you should kill me. In the meantime, please give me a chance.”

Elean sighed and nodded her head. “Fine, but I don’t want to see too many animals mauled by your other form either. If you can’t control yourself around animals, what hope do you have around people?”

The cleric bowed his head in thanks, then got up, walked toward the door and looked back. “I will most likely be staying in this forest for some time. After I get my other half under control, I’d be happy to… I don’t know… keep your secret home safe?”

“We’d appreciate that.” Kodi said. Then the cleric walked out into the wilderness.

#

Marrok, the newly turned cleric, walked through the underbrush, focusing all his thoughts on staying human. The air was beginning to lose its chill and he thought of running through the trees to get far away from the cabin when his concentration broke. He keeled over and fell to his knees and he felt every muscle tense and every bone crack and shift. He could feel his body pushing outward in every direction as his breath caught in his throat. He felt his lower back turn and jerk, forcing him to all fours. He saw his arms elongating as his fingers retreated into the palms of his hands and his nails grew around to form sharp claws. He saw silver hairs growing all over his body just before his vision shifted as his nose grew into a snout.

When it was all over, he had one thought. He had to get away. He had to get away from the people with the silver arrows. So, he ran, faster than any other human alive. He ran to survive.