Tread Lightly – Among Monsters And Men

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Wyatt Graves

 

Worry braided deeply with fury tears a fiery path through my brain as I frantically search the small duo of rooms, doing everything I can to find any clues of where Elizabeth, Esther, and Dakota went. But I cannot. No signs even show them coming back since the funeral which happened over twelve hours ago.

If they didn’t even make it back, then it means something happened to them on their way back. Something bad enough that Dakota couldn’t handle it. A Sigiled almost guaranteed. Maybe even a Hunter.

My pocket watch says that it is 11:23, and the sun has been up for a few hours. The entire mission to retrieve the Mandaamin was completed in a single night, the late Nightmare allowing us to reach the ravine with the plants in only a couple hours and then our run back took most of the time. The stint with Alexos lasted only a few minutes in total.

I stomp my way through the rooms toward the exit, wanting to go and look for the three, but Earl stands in my way. I see an odd expression on his face as I get up close to him.

“Move. What are you doing? Help me look for them!”

Earl ignores my pleas and stays in the way, unmoving.

“Calm down Wyatt. I’m sure they’re fine and that there is a reasonable explanation for why they’re not here. I made a deal with Johnny, remember? I’d stay with him as his good luck charm and he’d keep them safe. I doubt he'd go back on his promise.”

His words do little to convince me. I walk back and forth for a few steps as paranoia builds. I turn back to Earl, once more demanding him to move. I need to look for them, I have a bad feeling.

“Move Earl. I don’t give a damn what Johnny said. I’ve never even seen someone looking out for you guys. Do you really think he cares enough to watch over them? Sure he’d care for people who’ve fought with him for years, but we’ve known him for weeks at most. Just move! Please. I have a really bad feeling!”

Earl just continues his act of getting in my way, blocking the doorway out entirely with his body. He puts his arms out trying to calm me down.

“No. You need to rest. You remember what Virgil said? Chill out, man. You are way too stressed out. You aren't even listening to what I'm saying. They are fine, I'm certain. Johnny gave me his word. When was the last time you slept in a bed? Ate warm food? Gone an hour without shivering from the cold of coming winter?”

I bark back at him without thinking.

“I’m not stressed out! I’m fine! Just let me go and look for them.”

He still doesn’t move but instead keeps talking, only further irritating me. Every word he utters makes my frustration rise. Why won’t he let me go?!

“See? You’re doing it again! You just keep pushing down all your stress, emotions, and trauma with the urgency of something to do. Virgil pointed it out to me, and he was right. You need to rest Wyatt. What happens when you can’t push down the hurt anymore? Are you going to explode?”

I growl at him and poke him roughly in the chest with my palm, barely even listening to him at this point.

“Move. Final warning.”

Even still, Earl refuses to budge an inch. He stands still with my finger on his chest despite the debilitating headache he must still feel.

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about! You’re ready to resort to violence after just a few seconds. Is that who you want to be? What happens during the coming battle when people die Wyatt? When I, Elizabeth, Dakota, or even Esther die? What then? Are you going to run out of space in yourself to push it all down and just combust? Let the Bloody Palm take you over?”

My urgency, Earl’s words that only make my anger worse, and my need to leave combined with a thousand other things make me lose it. I feel cold ashy blood fall from my nose as I rear back an arm to force him to move. The sensation is ignored in favor of my boiling thoughts.

Elizabeth, Esther, and Dakota need me. I can’t worry about Earl’s bullshit. I’m fine. There’s nothing wrong with me. He’s the one with something wrong with him. Leonard’s death fucked him up. He’s not thinking right.

Maybe if I hit him, he will listen. Maybe then he will understand the situation.

My ashy left arm moves through the air with great force toward his chest, but just before I land my palm against his chest, a familiar tired voice reaches us from the hallway.

“Earl! Is Wyatt in there two?”

I move the target of my arm at the last second, the palm of my left hand going straight through the wooden frame of the wall. It explodes as if a cannon hit it as splinters and wood fragments go everywhere. None of the splinters dig into my hand, for the Bloody Palm is too tough for normal wood to pierce its skin. But some of these splinters do stab into Earl’s side and right arm.

“What the! Wyatt was that you!?”

Only a few small streams of blood emerge, but the red makes me see color again. Guilt and pain instantly hit me as I see the effects of my actions. Earl’s face is filled with disbelief as if he didn’t believe I’d really try to hit him, and Elizabeth who is just walking up is full of shock.

I can’t believe I actually almost attacked him. What the fuck was I thinking!? My eyes go to my left arm as my right-hand touches the blood under my nose. Deep red covered with flakes of ash. The Bloody Palm.

Elizabeth screams once more after I fail to answer her, lost in thought and disbelief at myself.

“What did you do, Wyatt!? Did you just try to hit Earl?”

I try to answer her, but I have no clue what to say. My words stutter and fumble over themselves as shame and self-hate grip me.

“I—. I just—. I…”

Surprisingly Earl speaks up for me, interrupting my shameful explanation. For some reason, he doesn’t stick any blame on me at all or accuse me of attacking him. He is a bad liar, though, and talks super fast with jittery words.

“Ah, it was no big deal, Elizabeth. He was just trying to test out a new skill he came up with but messed up the execution. I stood in the doorway for safety, but I guess it wasn’t enough, haha. Where have you been? Where is Esther? Oh, my! Why is Dakota covered in blood?”

I peek my head some more through the doorway to get a better view of Elizabeth and Dakota. And Earl is right, not only is Esther gone, but Dakota is drenched in blood. Elizabeth is also in a different outfit than what we saw earlier, a close-fitting and more tomboyish look than usual. What’s happening?

At first, the young woman looks starstruck at what she’s seeing, but she seems to quickly recover. I then notice Elizabeth squint her eyes at what Earl said as if she doesn’t believe his words. But instead of refuting him, she just slowly nods. She has to know he's lying. Then she focuses on the consequences of me breaking the doorway.

“I’ll tell you guys in a second, everything is fine, but we need to clean this up and pay for the broken door.”

Earl and I just look at each other and then shrug. If she said everything is fine, then probably is, but I still want to press the issue. However, the guilt from my recent outburst keeps me quiet. Earl and I bend down and start picking up fragments of wood. While we do, though, Earl whispers into my ear.

“You need to chill out, now. I don't know what’s going on with you entirely, but I can guess. Get the Bloody Palm under control. I can see that it is restricted to your arm visually, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t affecting your mind. I’ll forgive you once for trying to hit me. A spur of the moment, worry, and desperation type of thing. But not again."

He moves away from me but leaves a small final message.

"And Johnny is a good man. He would honor any deal to the end.”

Elizabeth speaks up, I guess she notices that Earl is whispering to me. This time, though, Earl is more clever with his reply.

“What you two whispering ‘bout over there?”

“Ah, nothing. I’m just giving him some advice on Ether stuff. Y’know Wyatt doesn't like to read.”

“Hey! I’m getting better. I bet you I can read that book we got faster than you.”

“Yeah, right. How much you wanna bet? Wait, you don’t even have any money do you?”

“Screw you, man. Just pick up the damn wood.”

When we finish gathering all the wood into a bag and start sweeping the fragments with a broom, Elizabeth clues us in on what happened. Both Earl and I drop our tools at her very first sentence.

“So~ I got a Sigil. I–”

We both interrupt her with a simultaneous, “What!?”, and she looks at us weirdly. A small pause ensues as she puts her hands up and shakes her head.

“You’re not the only two who can fight, y’know. Johnny offered to give me a chance because I wanted to help, and I went with an old friend of his to check on some of his boys he sent out on errands for the battle. I dropped Esther off, who was asleep, with Heath’s nurse. She said she’d take care of her until I got back. We got close when I was injured."

Elizabeth moves some hair out of her face nervously and then keeps her story going after a short pause.

"Anyway, one thing lead to another and I ended up in a firefight between a dozen of Johnny’s men, Sacate, Johnny’s old friend, and an ambush of Hunters who had pinned down the men–”

I interrupt her again, not trying to stop her from talking, but I just want certain answers over others.

“Are you hurt? Did any of them hurt you?”

She shakes her head and nods at Dakota with a thankful attitude.

“No, I was protected by that guy over there. He’s quite a fighter. He ended up killing over five people during the attack. There were other people who helped me out, too, so I wasn’t alone. But I’ve never been so scared. It was like staring straight at a grim death. It took me a long time to even be able to join the fight. I’m glad I did, though.”

I don’t understand. Why was she happy to fight? She didn’t have to at all. She could have just waited in Rustbank for us to return.

“Why are you glad? Couldn’t you have just waited for us?”

Elizabeth gives me a death stare at that question, completely stopping her sweeping of the floor.

“No. I couldn’t have waited for you guys. Do you know how much it hurts to just sit and watch as your friends risk their lives? As other people fight for you, a frightened girl who can’t do anything? I couldn’t handle it."

Her eyes drift away from mine and go back to the floor.

"Because I joined the fight with Sacate, I not only gained confidence in myself and aided the defensive effort, but I also gained a Sigil. I had only had one choice, though, the Lawman.”

For the first time ever, I realize just how Elizabeth felt. I never knew she was so angry at herself for being unable to help us fight. In hindsight, it is obvious, though. While we were on the road, she would do anything she could to help in a fight despite just being a normal person.

If it were me, I’d have surely gotten killed trying to help like that, but her wit kept her alive. The only reason I didn't die before getting a Sigil is because I had an expert like Edmund protecting me. She’s always been good at on-the-fly decisions. Earl’s a preparer, she’s a reactor, and I’m a doer. Our skills do make quite a good team, but a doer would die if there is nothing he can do. I would like to try doing some stuff with the three of us, I think we’d be able to excel easily.

My curiosity does grow at the name of her Sigil, Lawman, though. I’ve heard it a few times and even seen something with it, Law’s Light. I wonder what the first Sigil does. Earl asks her before I can, though, as my thoughts take longer than a few seconds. I follow up behind him as I also want to show my sympathy.

“Damn, I didn’t know you felt like that. I’m sorry. We could have done more to help get you a Sigil. What does your Sigil do, though? I only roughly know the traits and it’s not unheard of for a Sigil to have slightly different boons.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry too. I wished I did more to help you out. I know what it’s like to feel useless.”

Elizabeth smiles at both of us showing concern for her, and she waves her arms in the air excitedly as she talks about her Sigil. The feeling is infectious as both Earl and I smile as well.

“The Cabin was quite eerie like you said, Earl. I was careful, though, and just focused on the book to learn from it. On the way back here, we rode from a wagon so I could test out Ether and what I can do with Sacate. The book said I can sniff out lies and deceit while at the same time inspiring confidence in others. As well as having a better charisma, or ability to lead righteously. Sacate called the skill given to me, Inspire. Most of the Sigil skills from normal Sigils already have common names, so sadly, I couldn't name mine."

She gives the two of us a mischievous look while calling us two out.

"It’s supposed to help people stay in line while at the same time giving them a bit of self-confidence in themselves. But it also gives a small about of physical strength. It all comes from my voice, though, so when I use it you have to be able to hear me.”

I congratulate her as we finish cleaning up the mess I made. Being able to strengthen other people is great. And the Sigil increases her natural charisma! I think it’s a perfect fit. She even has a great sense of justice.

“That’s amazing! I think it fits you perfectly. People with Lawman make fantastic leaders. With your quick decision-making, you’ll be awesome.”

She doesn’t seem to believe me instantly. Elizabeth doesn’t seem to know how easy she is to listen to.

“Really? I don’t think I’m all that good at leading. You are much better than me.”

I laugh at her thoughts. I’m a terrible leader. All I do is charge. Little thought goes into most of my plans and I rely on others for advice.

“When have I ever truly led? I can only take the first step toward an enemy. Plans, decision making, and preparations are none of my strong suits. Trust me, you’d make a good leader. It’s almost instinctual for Earl and me to listen to you at this point.”

Elizabeth giggles at this as she looks at Earl and orders him to do something.

“If that’s the case, then take the bag of wood and throw it away. After you do that, tell the owner the damage we did and pay for it with what money we have left.”

Earl seems to be pulled by some force as he quickly nods before shaking his head. He still agrees, though.

“Yeah, sure, I will. What was that, though?”

I answer based on what I saw.

“I think she just told you what to do like a dog.”

Earl curses at me before walking down the hallway with the bag of broken wood.

“Uh-huh. You have fun with the dog trainer, then. I’ll go pay for your mess, dumbass.”

While he walks down, Elizabeth calls out to him and I feel a bit of Ether enter the air from her voice. Instantly I recognize it as her skill, Inspire.

“You got this Earl! Run, boy, run! Fetch us some food as well!”

Right after she says this, the Ether seems to sink into Earl as he gains a pep in his step, moving a bit faster. He doesn’t notice it at first as he kinda half-skips half-walks for a bit. Before he turns the corner, though, he stops for a second and looks down at his feet. Then he flips his head to us.

“Stop messing around! I’ll be back in a bit. I’ll also get Esther, don’t worry about it, Elizabeth.”

The sight of Earl not being able to control his pace and moving faster like she asked is hilarious to the both of us. Elizabeth and I break into laughter as he skips around the corner of the hallway and disappears from our sight. We laugh so hard that she has to wipe tears from her eyes.

We stop laughing for a moment to catch our breath and our eyes meet. After a short period of eye contact, our laughs return as we start to make our way back into the room with the broken door.

When we make it in, I try to return to seriousness and ask her about her Sigil, wondering if she learned anything else.

“Did you learn anything else? Any general skills?”

Elizabeth nods at me as she sits on one of the chairs, and I plop down across from her.

“Yeah, I did! Sacate taught me a skill of his on the way here, saying something about the best time to learn to swim is when you are first put in water. He taught me, Yell, saying that it is one of the most important skills for someone who has a Sigil meant to lead. It involves imbuing Ether into your vocal cords, making your voice louder.

He also told me about another skill that I should try to learn, Listen, but I couldn’t do it on the way here. He said that later on, Listen can grow to Impartial Ear because of my Sigil, which makes you able to discern any lie. It took me almost the whole ride to learn Yell, though. I hope I can pick it up later.”

I nod at her and agree with her.

“Those two skills do sound really important. You need to be able to make others hear you and hear others. The skill that lets you discern lies will certainly become vital. Where is this, Sacate, though?” And you think you can try and teach me those two skills?”

Elizabeth just shrugs at my first question, barely answering it, before agreeing to the second.

“I’m not sure. He said something about “Listening to the sands.”. I figure he’s doing something with his Ether for scouting. He is a 6th Sigil after all, so none of us can really tie him down or order him, not even Johnny.

But yeah, I can try and teach you, if you’ll try and teach me the skills you know. No promises at how good I am of a teacher, or student, though.”

For the next hour or so we talk and I attempt to learn the skills she was taught, and she tries to learn Physical Strengthening and Sneak. Knowing what I know now, I figure those two could be very useful later on if she imbues it with the signature aspects of her Sigil through her Ether.

Sneak is likely to make her presence more obvious and intimidating while Physical Strengthening is just a must-have and almost certain to be something useful when upgraded.

After about an hour of learning, I manage to learn Listen. It seems like Virgil was right. I am quite talented in imbuing myself with Ether. Yell is much harder for me to learn as it involves projecting the Ether as well. She is unable to learn either Physical Strengthening or Sneak, but she makes good progress on the former.

Towards the end of our little Ether learning session, I hear two pairs of footsteps coming down the hallway with Listen, one loud and one quiet. The louder one sounds like Earl’s gait if I remember correctly. The other one must be Esther.

After a few seconds of waiting, we see him come through the door with plates of food and Esther sleepily stumbling behind him. I quickly stand up, help him carry the plates, and set them down on the table in the room.

The food smells so good. It’s been too long since I had a nice, warm, cooked meal.

Maybe Virgil and Earl were right. I need some rest.