Chapter 33

Daylight had deepened into the queerly flat yellow of sunset, and the surrounding trees were dappled and mottled in warm tones as Katarina rode into the frontier city of Norn, wrapped in her thoughts. A lot had happened in Aston, and Katarina had spent the entire ten day journey in meditative contemplation as a result.

An accusation had been leveled at her in Aston. Not from the Church, not from the people that lived and worked there, but from an Angelic Spirit that dwelled within her gun itself. That itself was a shock to her; Angelic Spirits weren't known for doing such things.

Angelic Spirits were the fury of the ocean squall, the explosive eruption of the volcano, the terrifying tremors of earthquakes, the hurricanes and tornadoes. Indiscriminate chaos rampaging across the world, indifferent to the plights or pleas from mortal men and women. So why then, how then, did such a being come to be attached to Katarina's weapon? Why would such a thing take interest in Katarina?

That thought brought a great and uncontrollable horror to wash over Katarina every time she tried to think about it. No matter how you tried to consider it, there could not possibly be a single human that could comfortably want the attention of a natural disaster to turn their way.

The accusation had been that Katarina had begun to stray from the Golden Lady's holy purpose, which was condemning enough to make anyone nervous. Katarina had also gotten a warning from the Diviner in Aston that matched that accusation: Katarina had begun to focus on the law of the Church, adhering to duty and shirking relationships. She had forgotten how to love and be compassionate, which had been the first and most important rule from the Law of the Goddess.

As she neared the city's gate she roused herself. For a frontier city, Norn was significantly larger than most. If Aston to the north was an industrial city, and Darnell to the south was the capital, then Norn was a trade and logging town, a midway point between the two. The gate was sturdier than most, and two squat stone towers guarded the heavy wooden doors that never closed. The hinges on the ponderous gates had solidified into huge lumps of rust, and the heavy wood panels had creeping vines along its lower panels. While the gate was no longer movable, the guards in the towers did keep a watchful eye, and the three guards at the gate entrance itself were no less vigilant. The guards stepped up to greet her, waving a halt.

Remembering her lesson from Aston, Katarina took a breath and halted. Instead of simply flashing her holy symbol and telling the guards to piss off, she smiled down at them, showed them her Writ and Warrant, and was waved inside. One of the guards with a wet-behind-the-ears look gave her an energetic and respectful salute that earned a distracted chuckle from her.

Once past the gate, she glanced around the town. Three streets intersected the highway that started way down in the capital of Darnell to the south and ended with Aston in the north, each lined with shops. A circular road ringed the town itself. She looked around for the church, but for the moment she could only spy shops and restaurants. Off to one side was a massive lumber mill, and she could trace with her eyes a logging road that disappeared into the woods. Just shy of the lumber mill was a long wooden building two stories high that seemed to be an inn, but was filled with raucous shouting, punctuated by the occasional woman's laugh. Somewhere inside, someone was banging away on a piano that was in desperate need of a tuning.

Katarina eyed it curiously, but first she had to secure lodgings. She turned her horse and rode it at a leisurely pace, taking in the town. Norn was a town that thrived on a lumber industry. The industry itself was a side effect of the need for expansion, however. The Anglish Empire needed farms, but the thickly wooded areas of Aston and Norn needed to be cleared, first.

Norn itself seemed perpetually caught between the rough savagery of a frontier town and the sophistication of a proper city. Parts of the town had cobbled roads and the gothic architecture Katarina was used to, other parts were the red brick and clapboard buildings with false fronts and raised wooden boardwalks that were synonymous with frontier towns.

A shouting from behind her caught her attention, and she stopped and turned her horse, hand falling to the butt of her gun. The young guard that'd given her a snappy salute was running towards her.

"Milady!" He shouted, catching the attention of the other passers-by.

She eyed him curiously. She had him pegged at perhaps eighteen or nineteen, though the wisp of beard on his face made him look older. 'He'd resent it if I called him 'boy', she thought to herself, though to her he certainly looked it.

"What is it?" She asked as soon as he'd caught up to her. She glanced around pointedly to send him a signal to remind him that whatever he was going to say was in the public spectacle.

"I wanted to know if you were gonna be going into the woods." He asked, and Katarina's eyebrows rose.

"I just got here." She reminded him and he clamped his mouth shut and rolled his eyes in frustration.

"Why don't we start with you telling me what you want?" She asked gently.

"My older brother's in the guard, milady." He began, and glanced to the side. "He went out to the forest a few days back and ain't been back. If you're going out there, I'd like to go with you. Look for him."

"Why would a town guard be sent into the woods?" She asked, and he let out a breath. "Some lumberjacks went missing." He explained. "My brother and his friends were sent because we know the woods around here."

She gestured to the woods. "What's out there?" She asked curiously. "Beastmen? Wolves? Mutants? Catamounts?" She pressed. He blinked. "What's a catamount?" He asked, and she shook her head. "Nevermind." She replied dismissively.

"There're wolves, mi'lady. I dunno about beastmen or mutants. Maybe." He replied, and she nodded absently.

"I don't know if I'll be heading into the woods, but if I do, I'll try to keep an eye out." She replied simply.

"Milady, please." He blurted. "Take me with you. I know the woods. I could guide you. I know the trails."

"I prefer to work alone." She replied, and he grimaced. "Please, milady." he urged.

"You any good with a sword?" She asked, and he rolled his eyes. "We don't use swords here, milady." He replied. "I'm good with the axe and mace and I'm a fair hand with a bow. I won't get in your way and I'll carry my own weight." He declared.

"You got a horse?" She asked, and he nodded. She took a long moment to think.

"What's your name?" She asked, and he brightened. "Dillon." he replied. "Ranger Dillon." he added with emphasis.

"You're a Warden?" She asked, surprised, and he shrugged. "Sorta." He grimaced a little. "Used to be." he added. "My brother and I was-" He cut himself off as he corrected himself, "were Forest Wardens, up towards Apopka."

"Apopka's deserted." Katarina replied, remembering the empty town she'd wandered through before arriving in Aston.

He nodded at that. "It was the beastmen." He explained angrily. "Centaurs. They killed everyone while my brother and I were out patrolling."

"So they brought you here?" She asked, and he glanced around and nodded bitterly.

"If I find myself heading to the woods, where should I ask for you?" She asked. "The Church?"

"You'll do it?" He blurted, excited. "Oh milady, thank you so much!"

"I didn't say I would." She warned gently. "But if I do." She added.

"I'm on gate duty for the week. Just hie on out there." He replied.

She smiled. "I'm just supposed to ask for a guard to accompany me?" She asked, and he shrugged. "You're a Witch Hunter, aren't ya?" He asked. "They won't refuse."

She nodded at that. They weren't able to refuse. "Where's the church here?" She asked, and he gestured. "West. Just stick to this road, it curves down that way."

She nodded, and he tipped his hat at her. "Right obliged, milady."

She tipped her hat back at him and nodded, and he gave her an impish grin before trotting off.