The Gunslinger

No Rest (Scene 07)

They rode most of the day and only stopped to give Alterro a rest every now and then, at one point the two women had even shared a meal whilst riding. Charlie didn't see the point in it but Genna appeared to be in some kind of rush. Due to their earlier conversation, Charlie knew that it wasn't because Genna was eager to get to where they needed to be so she could get rid of Charlie - which would've been an easy enough explanation - but when she'd asked the Gunslinger, she hadn't received more than a cryptic comment about a bad feeling.

Charlie hadn't felt any such thing and had happily settled down to sleep under the stars, wrapped up in furs and thick clothes. The night air was still and a little chilly but under all the layers, Charlie felt warm and safe, she fell asleep almost immediately while Genna still rummaged around and got ready for the night.

"Ah, Genna!" Charlie woke up in a cold sweat, still half-way caught in her nightmare, but she felt like there was no time to waste in warning the Gunslinger. Genna was sitting upright before Charlie had even managed to roll onto her side to get a look at her. She wasn't saying anything but her eyes were wide and awake, and showing no trace of anger or dismay at being woken.

"Someone's following us." Charlie whispered into the silence between them. There was only about one feet of grass between them but Charlie still felt like her voice was too loud in the deafening silence of the night.

Genna nodded solemnly, much to the Witch's surprise.

"Who?" She asked, finally sitting up to look around them. They'd settled down in a small forest and thus were shielded by trees from all sides but suddenly, Charlie felt less safe with them around than she would've out in the open.

Someone could be hiding in the darkness between the trees.

"The Lotan." Genna said, louder and more confidently than Charlie had dared to speak

"Who are they? Why do they follow us?"

"They're Baal's men." Though the volume of her voice didn't change, Charlie could clearly hear that Genna spoke the name with an ill sort of respect. Not fearful in any way but surely not happily either. Merely spoken in a way that made it clear the respect was owed, however angrily given.

Charlie knew the name, too, and understood immediately the way Genna had spoken it.

"Witches call them the Horned Serpent." She explained and couldn't suppress a shudder at the mention of the Royal Daimon. "The Dark Witches pray to them, I've heard."

Genna's cold, grey eyes were on her in a heartbeat, fixing her with an intense gaze.

"Do you know their real name? Their true name in the Dead Tongue?" Charlie had to listen closely to even make out Genna's voice then, a stark contrast to just moments before.

She opened her mouth to answer but Genna leaned forward, quick as a snake, and put her finger over Charlie's lips. She nodded her head and only then did Genna lean away again.

"Don't say it. Not in their tongue, at least. And don't think their name either, if you can help it. Won't do your dreams any good if you let the thought of them into your mind, anyway." Genna had settled into a cross-legged sitting position and Charlie followed her example. After the dream she'd had, she doubted she could find enough peace of mind to sleep again any time soon.

Flickering images of the darkness reaching for her clawed at her conscience even now.

"Why are they following us? They're Daimons, right?" Charlie asked after a beat of silence. She couldn't stand the quiet all of a sudden, which was odd, considering she'd cherished it for most of her life. But the silence in these woods felt poisoned and the Witch couldn't wait to get as far away from it as possible.

"Baal was the one who gave my Ancestor this curse." Genna laughed humorlessly, her smile bitter like curdled milk. "These powers."

"So they send the Lotan to kill you?" Charlie turned to face Genna fully, though whenever a draft picked up and swept along between the trees to shake the leaves, she turned around and watched the darkness, wide-eyed and afraid. The Gunslinger's voice pulled her back, like the insistent tugging of a child on the hem of her dress during Midsummer's Feast.

"I suppose so." She said and let her gaze flicker from Charlie's face to the forest behind her, and while the movement was quick, Charlie had caught it nonetheless. It gave her no comfort, only the fact that Genna's eyes didn't return to the woods behind her did a bit to calm her nerves.

She herself stopped turning around, deciding she was more comfortable with leaving that to the Gunslinger, and giving her own imagination some rest. The Gods knew the things she'd see in the dark if she only dared to look long enough.

"Aren't you afraid at all?" The Witch asked, fiddling with a blade of grass next her thighs, legs crossed over one another.

"Only a fool wouldn't be afraid of the Nightshade." Genna spat on the ground next to her. She sat there for a few moments longer, just staring at the empty space between her and Charlie, before she got up.

"We'll ride on and rest during the day. Sleep will find neither of us again tonight." Quite happy with that decision, Charlie stood and packed up her things in far less time than she'd taken to unpack them some hours before.