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There was a small town, and in that small town all of the houses were the same, all new, all the same size, shape, colour, style, and they all curved to face the giant church in the middle of the town. No one who didn’t live in the town questioned it, but why? Why would all the houses face the church. The church was giant, almost the size of the little palace in Os Alta, turrets, giant front doors, with gold and turquoise trim. The church itself was beautiful to look at, but something felt off, no one was ever there. All the houses were lived in, people always answered their doors, but when you went into the streets of the town, no one was there, no one walked the streets. It was like a ghost town. The other odd thing about the town was that it was eerily quiet. If you’ve ever been there you’d know what that silence felt like, pressing, like it was going to break at any moment, but it never did. The towns name was Sylthbreach, in the western part of Ravka, not many people visited there, as the travellers who came back told stories that would send a chill up even the bravest warriors spine. One day, the king heard one of these stories and ordered the small village to be burnt to the ground to rid it of its poisons, so the kings bravest warriors gathered up and set a course for Sylthbreach. Among them was Kaleb, a young Shu boy who had fled from his country because of his Grisha powers. He was an Inferni, and one of the most powerful in the Second Army. He could set things on fire with a glance, even some of the other Grisha were cautious not to upset him, so he didn’t have many friends. One night, as they were halfway to Sylthbreach, Kaleb was sitting on a log by his tent, when he saw something in the distance, a little flicker, not much but definitely something noticeable. Kaleb rubbed his eyes and looked again, it was gone now, how odd. He went back to his tent and tried to sleep. The next day as they headed for Sylthbreach the commanding officer noticed that one of the soldiers had gone missing. “Send a letter to the king, they’ll send a search party after him. Meanwhile we have to keep moving if we want to reach Sylthbreach in time before the first snow”. They trudged on, stopping from time to time to buy more supplies and fill up their canteens. Kaleb stayed isolated, no one wanted to be friends with him in fear of what he might do. He was lonely for some time, wishing that his power wouldn’t make him so feared. After a while, he found satisfaction in reading some of the stories and poems he’d collected over the years of his service to the 2nd army, from Ketterdam, Novi Zem, even some parts of Fjierda, from when he had gone undercover there. That night, he was sitting by the fire, like most nights when he saw one of the soldiers from his regiment going into the forest. Kaleb tried to recall the soldier’s name, but he couldn’t. “Hey! You! Where are you going?”, the soldier turned to him, his eyes wide, “Do you not see it?” “See what?” Kaleb asked confused. “The gold. A house on the hill, my wife and daughters, it’s all real” The soldier said as he walked towards the woods “You must be seeing things” Kaleb tried to shake the soldier from his path into the woods when he saw it, the small flicker, right in front of the soldier, leading him into the woods.” Get outta my way boy, get out Grisha” The soldier said as he pushed Kaleb down into the dirt by the edge of the forest “Yes Sheiva, what’s for dinner tonight, I am home” as he walked into the forest and was out of sight. Kaleb scrambled to his feet and ran back into his tent. What was that he thought, it’s definitely not normal, nor any Grisha power I’ve ever seen before. He went over to his desk and opened some of the scrolls, stories and poems about Sylthbreach, maybe if anything at all, this occurrence was connected to that accursed town somehow. He stayed up all through the night searching for any indication of what that thing could’ve been. He wouldn’t give up, he couldn’t give up, he needed to know what unnatural thing was that had lured that soldier into the woods.It was almost sunrise when Kaleb spotted something under a pile of scrolls and books, it was a small scroll, and it looked very old, but was written in Ravkan. The poem was seemingly about Sylthbreach called ‘The Wanderer’ The poem read:
If you seek this little town
If you stray too far
The wanderer will find you
He’ll come and take you
Pleasure you with visions of gifts
But do not follow the wanderer
It won’t lead to bliss
Now that struck Kaleb. The soldier had spoken of his wife and daughters AND they were getting close to the town. A chill crept over Kaleb, this wanderer, what did it do? Over the next couple days time, 5 more men went missing, even once 2 in one night. Their party had dwindled and that wasn’t a good sign, but they kept moving, stopping only at night to rest, and picking up in the morning. One night, a soldier that Kaleb had seen around a couple times came into his tent. Kaleb recalled that his name was Tomas, and probably not much older than Kaleb himself, but brave nonetheless. “Yes?” Kaleb asked as Tomas made his way into the tent and stood, “I realize this may not be useful but I’ve noticed it too”, “noticed what?” Kaleb asked slowly “The missing soldiers, the pull of the town, I can feel it waiting for us, trying to thin us out” Tomas sat beside Kaleb and pulled out a note “Years who my brother went out on a hunting trip, we live about 4 towns away from Sylthbreach, before it was deemed unstable, but my brother was only supposedly be away for 3 weeks, a month at the most, he wrote to us often, saying the hunting was very good near Sylthbreach, and saying he would be back in no time, this was the last note we ever received from him” he pulled out the note, tied with a white ribbon, it was scratched and stained, probably from the bird who carried it, but intact.
Dear Brother,
I’m afraid I might be long gone
As I draw nearer to this town I feel less sure that what’s going on in that town in normal, because it’s anything but. I see things that I shouldn’t be seeing, once I saw you, it was like a dream, Mama was there, Emly too, and there was food on the table, I was wearing my army jacket but instead of soldier it said captain. It was pulling me, it won’t let me leave. I know I won’t make it back so I’ve sent this letter so if my dreams haven’t come true, you know that I’m in trouble. Do not come after me, or your desire will draw your blood. Beware of Sylthbreach.
Kaleb was shocked. So it was true, the wanderer was real and out for blood, or more citizens to fill its houses and do the town’s work. “What can we do to stop it?” Asked Tomas “I don’t know” Kaleb said shakily. As Tomas and Kaleb kept looking for a way to stop the wanderer, they started to become friends. Kaleb learned that Tomas had come from Novo Kribisrk, and he had a brother who was a scribe for one of the army generals who was part of the Ravkan civil war. Kaleb felt like he finally had a friend. They were sitting in Kaleb’s tent when they found an old scorched piece of parchment under the bookshelf. “What is it?” Tomas asked, “It says ‘To kill any beast, Break the maker, but beware of the price’ I’m not sure if this applies to the Wanderer but we could always try” “If you can figure out a way to break the church I’ll pay the price, we can’t let anyone else get hurt because of this accursed town and the monsters within” Tomas said before he left. Kaleb knew that it would only take one more day to reach the town, so he and Tomas would have to come up with a plan, and fast. The next day another 3 men went missing, the most men gone in one night. The missing count had gone up to 20 in only 2 weeks of traveling to Sylthbreach. That morning, the air was thick with dread, Kaleb could feel Tomas tense as they got in their horses and road out of camp. As they got closer the air smelt sickly sweet, of overripe fruit and the clouds hung low in the sky. As Tomas planned his part in the distraction Kaleb stopped him “You don’t have to do this, you know it’s much too dangerous and your help may come with a price”. “No, I will do this” said Tomas surely “For my brother, for all
My friends who were lost, for Ravka”. The other soldiers, who had no idea of Kaleb and Tomas had planned for when they reached Sylthbreach, but they were just as nervous all the same. A few miles before they reached the town, the commander stopped the men and told them what they would do. “Protect the Grisha at all costs, he is the one who must light the fire and burn this hell hole to the ground” Great. No one except Tomas would even address him as his real name, like he didn’t even have feelings. “Boy” the commander said, looking at Kaleb, “as soon as you reach the centre of the town, burn, burn as hot and as strong as you can” “Y..y..yes sir” Kaleb said timidly not wanting to make eye contact with the commander in fear of the disgusted look on his face. No one wanted to look at Grisha, even though Ravka was supposed to protect people like Kaleb, the truth was anything but, even though Grisha slavery was illegal, in other places it wasn’t, and since Grisha were able to live their lives in peace here, there were many slavers that come in search for them, bar owners that wouldn’t let them in, who wouldn’t let them work in their fields, who still thought Grisha were evil. It was a few more minutes until they saw the church. “Wow” whispered Tomas in disbelief, “I’ve never seen anything like it” “me neither” agreed Kaleb, “Get in your positions” declared the commander, and Tomas looked at Kaleb, “ready?” He asked, “ready” Kaleb answered “For our home, for our brothers, for Ravka!”. It was already night so the chance that they could get into the city unnoticed was much better. As they snuck in Kaleb kept going through his and Tomas’ plans as they snuck through town. Suddenly out of nowhere two of the soldiers dropped their guns and started to walk towards one of the houses, “Gold? A position as Duke? Only my biggest dream!” Oh no, thought Kaleb, it’s happening. He knew they wouldn’t get far if all the soldiers were being whisked away by magical offers to die. Panic seized him and he started running, trying to not focus on anything but the church, just get there he told himself, that’s all you have to do, once the plan is in motion, no one can stop us. As soon as Kaleb reached the church, he started a flame, something he’d never tried before, a blue flame, an eternal flame, there were rumours of a witch underwater in the old folklore that used her voice to create a flame that could last underwater, but Kaleb was not Sydroier, so he couldn’t use their magic, he’d have to use his own. As the blue flame burned brighter, Kaleb could feel the presence of something, something, evil that quieted him for a moment, he felt a surge of fear as he burned the flame brighter, hotter. He could hear the fights still out as the sounds ranged from far away, to close, the thing was getting closer by the second. Kaleb felt a hand grip him, Tomas, he had made it. He felt the flame start between their gripped fingers, he felt Tomas clench as the heat burned him. Kaleb had told Tomas the heat of the flame would hurt, but it would not cause permanent damage after they had finished. Kaleb drew from Tomas’ life force, not enough for him to pass out, but enough for Tomas to understand what he intended. “Are you sure this is going to work?” Tomas yelled, for the roar of the flames was too loud for anyone else to hear. Kaleb drew on his amplifier, usually he wouldn’t need one, but this town was like a Grisha power suppressant. The amplifier, he had gotten in the Shu Han, while fleeing as an already very powerful Grisha, he had hid in a cave by Tsibea, but the cold had kept him weak so it was hard to use his powers without freezing, a panther had come into the cave looking for a partially warm meal. Kaleb, having no option, had peacefully slayed the animal, and as a reminder of his deed, he took a claw from the panther’s and because it was so sharp, he filed it into a ring. Now he drew on what he had learned, this is for a reason, this is what I was supposed to do, no matter what the cost. The monster was near, Tomas took a deep breath, and with their combined power, called the monster. Even though it had no shape and you couldn’t see it until it had a hold on you, the flames found it all the same. “What’s happening!” Asked Tomas with a worried sound in his voice. “Just focus on using the fire to drown it” Kaleb said shakily. “Ok, but be careful” Tomas replied, the warning in his voice clear. As the monster tried to escape, Kaleb tried to keep it contained, but it was draining him, fast. He felt so powerful, it was good for Grisha to use their powers but too much use could have everlasting consequences. He thought of Tomas, his only friend here, one of the only non Grisha that was ever nice to him, Tomas said he would pay the price, but Kaleb had to make sure Tomas made out alive, even if it cost him his own life. The monster was hard to handle, but now they had to get into the church to finish the final step in their plan. Still slowly pulling from Tomas’ life force, they made their way up the stairs and Kaleb burned the lock away and they pushed the doors to the church open, dragging the monster inside with them. The inside of the church was even more grand than the outside. It had great wooden pews with leather seats, but you could feel the dampness and the smell of rot, this was not a holy place. Kaleb used his fire to place the monster on the altar at the centre of the church. Kaleb felt Tomas tense as the monster struggled, scratch marks became prominent on the altar, and Kaleb finally realized just how big this ‘Wanderer’ actually was. With all his might, Kaleb made the fire blaze and crackle, Tomas had to step back because of the heat, his force pulling Kaleb back with him, Kaleb didn’t mind the heat, be he knew he had to get closer, this was the end of the line for Tomas. He used the rest of the life force from Tomas, just enough to give himself a surge of power, and made Tomas a little woozy. “Go! Now! If you want to make it out alive!” Kaleb yelled at Tomas as he moved towards the beast. “No! I’m not going to leave you!” Tomas called as he tried to make his way towards Kaleb, but the heat was too much for Tomas’ mortal body. Kaleb ran to Tomas and pushed him the rest of the way out the door “Tell everyone to get out, this place will, burn, burn back into the hell where it came from”. Then he shut the doors and melted the handles on the inside back shut, his hand still keeping a roaring flame over the monster. He made his way back to the altar and placed both of his hands in front of him a blaze of blue flame Burt out, stronger than ever. After the monster was a little more subdued, Kaleb knelt down, one of his hands still focused towards the monster, but with the other he put it on the ground and he pushed the fire into the ground, reaching, searching for the end, when he finally felt it, he let the fire burst from the ground in an explosion of flame, this time red, yellow, orange, burning hot and angry, burning right through houses, trees, streets, even the church started to burn, flames licking at the trim. With all the force left it him, Kaleb focused it on the monster. I will not fail, no matter what the price. The roof of the church caved in and Kaleb saw was a giant explosion at the alter fallowed by a boom. The last thing Kaleb saw was flame. Tomas was at the edge of the town, he felt the boom before he saw the flames. For Ravka, he thought, for my brother. After the flames had died down, there was nothing left of the town, just a sorry pile of ashes, Tomas came back to the town as soon as it was safe to go, and he found Kaleb, although unconscious and badly wounded, he was alive. The healers at the little palace did everything they could, but he would never be the same. Some say the town moved, even though it’s not there, some evil spirits of the townspeople are said to roam the forest, trying to make a new town. Not all stories have happy endings, Kaleb would be forever changed, there are still things lurking near the remains of the town, but maybe, if even a little, this story has ended looking up.