Tin Soldier

The heat of the sun beat relentlessly down on my dark hair as I travelled down a distinctive dirt path with Daisy skipping on my heel. I knew this road. I’d seen it before. But that had been a long time ago.

My tin armour rattled against the steady rhythm of my steps; the gleam of it slightly charred since our escape from Aerostle. A fact, it seemed, that needed to be pointed out every five minutes according to Daisy. Still, despite the wear my armour had endured, I felt a sense of sentiment towards the crumpled piece of tin and so around my body it stayed.

Sturdy walls of rock and steel pierced the sky in the distance. A familiar and unsettling sense of hatred burned in my bones at the sight of my old home. To be honest, I wasn’t sure why I had come back here, to this town of memory. I wasn’t quite sure how I had found my way. But I didn’t know how to find my Scarlett. I didn’t know where to find the Forest of Ashes. I’d let my feet walk, and this was where it led me.

“Mornin’ sir,” came a voice. “Mornin’ miss.”

My eyes darted to the voice in surprise, having been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn’t even noticed we weren’t alone. Two brothers sat on the ledge of the small bridge that arched over a calm river. Pipes dangled from between their teeth as they pinned me with a lazy smile.

“Morning,” I replied automatically, scratching the back of my neck casually as I passed them.

Reaching the other side of the river, I breathed a sigh, guiltily grateful that they hadn’t expected to stop and chat but it seemed it wasn’t the last they had to say.

“It’s a fine time for an interesting day,” they called out as we walked on. “It’ll be a warm one this evenin’.”

Their chuckles drifted behind us, as if taunting. The thought left me feeling a little more on edge as the stone wall drew closer, the gate wide open in a seemingly welcome gesture. But it was far from welcoming.

The laughter of children hummed on the breeze, buzzing in my ears as I stepped through the threshold. I could only imagine the words of the gossiping women; their stares following my every move as I trailed the familiar streets of my childhood. Glares and accusations matched their hushed whispers; the past surfacing faster than the lust filling the eyes of others. Seven years had not forgotten me, and though some would not have ever known me, none were happy that I had come. At the top of the list was one person.

He came charging down the cobbled path in a fuming rampage, shaking the earth like a stampede of elephants. His face was a mottled red, his jaw square with tension. But I was not afraid of him. Not anymore. He had destroyed the last ounce of his intimidation on that fateful night.

I squared my shoulders as he approached, feeling the presence of Daisy beside me, and I was amused to see the look plastered on her face. She stood with her hands on her hips, staring my father down as if she could burn a hole right through him. But he did what I hadn’t expected. He stopped, his chest heaving in big breaths as he peered at me through his beady eyes.

“You’ve come home,” he said, sounding oddly relieved.

My eyes narrowed to thin slits at the sight of him; a growl rumbling in my chest as my body prepared itself to take dominance if the need arose.

“No,” I answered coldly. “This is not my home.”

There was no mistaking the hatred in my tone. It was obvious in the way my lips twisted into a grotesque sneer, and my eyes squinted in disgust. “Then why have you come?” he asked, anger lacing his words.

I refused to grace my father with a reply, not because I didn’t want to, but because I honestly had no idea why I’d returned. There was nothing to gain in coming back, except I’d wanted to find Daisy a place to go. Though I despised this village with all of the energy inside of me, she could be safe here, happy even. The girl needed a home, at least until I could trust she’d be safe on her own.

I stood in awkwardness, my eyes avoiding those of my father’s, and focused instead on my young companion. She’d left my side already, edging towards a cluster of children playing hopscotch at the doorstep of a town home. Daisy was by far an outgoing child, introducing herself eagerly once the group had noticed her. I smiled; knowing I’d be lying to myself if I said that she hadn’t grown on me. I would never tell her that though.

Daisy’s laugh rang louder than those of the children gathering around her, sealing my decision to leave her in the safety within the walls of the town. The girl was talking animatedly, her eyes wide, and her arms flailing about in the air as she tried to describe what I assumed were the giants we’d encountered in Aerostle.

But as she continued on her adventurous tale, she said something that made my blood run cold, and it was as if the town was layered immediately in darkness.

“You ate her?”

The smile left my face, and before I even knew what I was doing, I was hurtling towards the little girl.

“Yes!” she exclaimed excitedly waving her arms in the air.

Liar. I knew by now that her story was a lie. It was the overactive imagination of a young girl who had spent her years alone.

“So does that mean you have the witch inside you?”

I couldn’t reach her in time. Strong arms were pulling me back, much like they had seven years ago. I struggled against the grip, my eyes pleading for Daisy to stop talking. Instead she merely turned her eyes to me; her bright blue orbs flashing with happiness before quickly switching to concern at the sight of my distressed capture.

“She has a witch inside her!”

Daisy’s head whipped around in confusion to the child who had screamed in fear and it was at that moment that the air dropped dramatically in temperature. It was all happening quickly, just as it had the last time. My muscles tensed beneath the grip of whoever held me back, and my struggles became more and more desperate when they came for her.

“No!” I roared. “Don’t touch her!”

Suddenly Daisy was yanked from behind, startling her into a confused state of panic. “Flynn!” she cried out, her eyes searching for me through the gathering crowd, but the wall of people were thickening and soon I couldn’t see the screaming girl at all.

“Let her go!” My muscles twitched uncontrollably as I managed to free one of my arms, swiping at the face of my captor, and hearing a satisfying connection of my fist against flesh.

Immediately, the grasp around my arms disappeared, providing me with the chance to lose myself in the buzzing crowd. Their excitement was sickening; forming hurtles in my stomach that made me want to throw up. I knew where I needed to go. I knew where they were taking her, and my heart sank into my stomach when I finally caught up.

Flashes of memories surfaced before my eyes as a sense of déjà vu hit me. I squeezed into the crowd, attempting to force my way through, but they were too clustered. In desperation, I pulled my sword from its sheath, slashing through the forest of warm bodies as I drenched the cobbled street in blood, but as I got to the front of the crowd I was tackled to the ground.

Before us stood my father, bathed in all his glory as he held his arms out in a plea for the crowd to silence. The entire scene was an eerie repeat of the past, and I roared in a wrathful frustration at the man standing beside a pyre.

“Witches must burn,” my father announced, gaining more than a few cheers. “This monstrosity has consumed the power of evil, and she will suffer the consequences of such magick.”

Daisy’s soft cries were muffled beneath the raucous cheers of the village people. Tears welled in my eyes as I watched her desperation, pleading to my father, begging him. Her story wasn’t true, but no one was going to listen.

“Let her go,” I snarled viciously, but I could only watch as my father gave me a disappointed glare.

“It pains me that my own son continues to associate himself with these demons,” he muttered, taking the torch from the hands of a man.

I barely had time to glance back at Daisy, her scared eyes already penetrating my own as she realised what was to come. In an instant, the straw at her feet burst into a raging fire, the flames licking against her skin as her screams pierced the afternoon air. Her body squirmed against the restraints binding her wrists and ankles, but it was far too late, and the fire was spreading quickly. I could hear the sound of her flesh sizzling, and smell the foul aroma of her burning hair. Despite my best efforts, I could only watch as the innocent young girl burned at the stake.

When her screams finally silenced, I snapped. A hidden darkness awoke within me as I watched my little friend burn. A darkness that I’d locked away before I’d taken to the war. The darkness that my father had created when he burned my wife and daughter.

I bucked; throwing the man restraining me off of my body and hurtled myself at the burning pyre. The burning wood seared my hands as I tore through the pile of fuel. Fire flew in every direction, catching upon the town homes, but I felt no remorse. Heat was blaring against my face, and yet I was already burning. I burned with wrath and grief as I pulled Daisy’s charred body from the stake.

“What have you done?” my father yelled charging towards me, but I barely heard a word.

Placing Daisy gently upon a bed of ash that blanketed the cobbled street, I turned in time to wrap my fingers around my father’s startled neck. My eyes bore into his beady orbs, glaring so intently I could probably see his soul – if he had one.

“You will burn for all the people you have killed,” I growled. “You will burn for all of your sins.”

Vengeance seeped through my pores as the hysterical screams of families attempting to douse the fire blazing through town, haunted the afternoon chill. My father was struggling beneath my grip, his fingers pulling feebly at my hand clasped around his neck. His face had turned purple; my satisfaction fuelling strength but it was not enough.

Throwing my father against the empty stake, I pinned my sword through his body, relishing the screams that erupted from his throat.

Burn.

My escape was near; I could see the gates that welcomed the outside world, opening its arms as it urged me to come home. My time here was up, I would never have to see the wretched village again, but as I passed the gates a thought came to mind.

Sliding a knife from its sheath, I cut the rope that held the gate open, sliding outside as the gate came slamming to the ground. The noise seemed to catch the attention of those closest, and I gave them a brief wave as realisation suddenly dawned on them. The gate was heavy, and it would hours to open it again.

They would all burn before that happened.

My footsteps pounded with purpose as I walked away from the doomed town, Daisy’s burned corpse limp in my arms, and smiling as I listened to the screams of women and children that burned in the village I had once called home. It was better, I decided, that I hadn’t slit my father’s throat. The thought of him burning upon the stake on which he had so worshipped was satisfying.

“Evenin’ sir,” said a familiar voice, and I turned to see the lazy smiles of the two brothers I’d met earlier. “Awfully warm this time of night, wouldn’t you agree?”

Hefting Daisy’s body closer to my chest, I gave the boys a wide smile, and threw them a slight nod. “Wonderful night,” I stated, trudging happily across the bridge.

The air was indeed warm, and the first of the stars had begun to melt into the sky. For the first time in a long time, I felt at peace; I felt like now I might finally find my lost Scarlett. I would never stop searching.

“You know,” said one of the brothers. “This reminds me of a night not long ago.”

Stopping at the end of the bridge, I glanced over my shoulder. The boy’s eyes gleamed, curling into crescents as their wide smiles buried into their cheeks.

“Ah, yes,” said the other. “Wasn’t that one a warm night.” The boys exchanged glances, mischief and amusement switching between the two. “I do believe it was in… that direction,” he added, pointing to the south.

I glanced in the general direction without much care, before turning back to the men. Smoke billowed from their lips, pipes still dangling dangerously.

“Shame really,” the other brother said. “Such pretty little things, them nymphs.”

My blood froze. “What?”

The stench of the burning town was now haunting my mind as I thought about what the brothers had just said. My body gave an involuntary shudder; not wanting to believe that my Scarlett had received the same fate that I had set upon the village. My heart was already shattering, falling to pieces as I felt myself attempt to break with it. I fell to my knees, clutching at Daisy in desperation.

It couldn’t be true. I wouldn’t let it.

“Didn’t you hear?” the brothers continued. “One of them went crazy. Burned the whole forest down then fled to the Scarlet Sea.”

“Quite ironic,” added one. “Calls herself Scarlett.”

I was gone by the time they’d finished her name, Daisy still held tightly in my arms and my heart fluttering with a hopeful joy.

I’d finally found her.