[attr="class","textBox"]Ivan stumbled forward and his right foot found itself caught on an oversized rock, sending the boy tumbling down onto his face. He slammed down onto his forearms and his chin dragged on the stone and packed dirt ground. Pain ignited from the impact spot on his chin and he could feel blood leak out, but Ivan didn’t cry. He clenched his teeth and dig his fingertips into the ground, letting his body quiver in the agony it felt. His eyes burned, but no tears came; he had cried the last drops hours ago and had told himself that he wouldn’t let another fall. Ivan was beginning to become used to the pain of this world and to be honest, nothing hurt more than being alone, and he had been alone for a long time.
“Up… Up…” Ivan started to pull his body forward and pushed his palms into the packed dirt, lifting himself slowly out of the dust as he stared towards the ground. His eyes squeezed closed, the pain still piercing his mind and disrupting his thoughts. His body screamed at him to patch up the injury and his jaw whined that it hurt. Yet, Ivan ignored those cries. He regained his footing, trudged on towards the direction of familiarity. He could hear the sounds of people not too far off and based on the time, it was time to rest. The marketplace was the location he considered home and it was the only place he allowed himself to openly roam. Everywhere else he went, Ivan always made sure he memorized his way out rather than where he was. He would remember the number of turns he had made and the number of steps he took from each turn. By doing so, Ivan could retrace his steps and wind up back at least near the marketplace. So far, it had worked.
Yet he had ended up lost today. Today he had gone farther than he had even gone from his safety zone and it had got him into trouble. It was getting late and his mind was starting to slip from him. If he waited another hour, he probably would collapse in the middle of the street from being so tired. His mind was fluttering and he found himself missing some steps. The main reason he fell was actually because he fell asleep for a few seconds, or maybe longer. When he awakened he was already falling. Rather than count his steps now, Ivan simply walked towards the voices. This was the last street he needed to be on and the only street connecting him to Londinium’s market district. He had somewhere around three hundred steps left to take, and then he would turn right, follow the road to the fourth alley in, and then return to a comfortable box he had found.
Ivan never made it another hundred steps before he collapsed on the side of the street. His mind, exhausted from simply wandering and keeping tabs on everything he did, gave out on him. The boy tumbled down onto the dirt floor and his body instinctively curled up there, motionless and abandoned like a car whose driver left it on the side of the road. However, Ivan did not remain there for long for he was not alone. For some time, Ivan was being watched. A woman dressed in black and red clothes had been following Ivan ever since she saw him turn down the wrong alley. She had seen him stumble, watched his hand trace the walls, and even stood in front of him as he walked, waving her hand before him in order to see if he was truly blind. From that moment, she trailed him. This woman, wearing robes fit for a both a mage and a ruffian, scoped up the little blind boy and stole him from the street. Not a soul whom had seen the act said a word; a ghost had stolen a whisper, and in a blink they were gone.
* * *
Ivan awoke in a place completely different than where his consciousness had slipped. He immediately noticed the change in the air, the change in the floor, and the feeling of motion made his stomach tense. Ivan sat up and held his breath, listening to the faint sound of wheels turning and of metal hitting pavement; a carriage was the mode of transportation. Ivan felt around him, his hands brushing over a mix of wood and velvet cushion. It was a high class carriage, possibly for a lower ranking noble of sorts. Ivan frowned at the thought and sniffed at the air with a subtle breath; perfume, two kinds, and the faint mixed scent of blood and sweat. Two women and a male whom Ivan assumed was a body guard. He grimaced.
“Awake finally, little one?” The voice was sharp and piercing. Ivan felt the hairs on his neck straighten as the woman addressed him. Ivan’s lower lip quivered a little and he instinctively felt his body tell him to move away from her, but he remained still. Still as stone as to not incur the wrath of the blood-wearer.
“You don’t have to be afraid. I won’t hurt you… And I won’t let the others hurt you either.” The voice closed in from Ivan’s left and just as the woman stopped speaking, she was in his left ear. Her voice lowered to a whisper and he could feel her warm breath on his skin. He gripped at the floor and nearly stopped breathing. Suddenly, he felt her arms slide around his neck and her bosom pressed into the back of his head as she pulled him back against her. The scent of seduction poured into his mind, clouding his thoughts and reducing his brain to nothing but a mass in his skull. Ivan’s face felt hot and he let out a light whimper, but the woman didn’t stop. She hugged him back into her and embraced him, much like a lover would.
“There there, little one… You’re okay…. Tell me, what’s your name, boy?” The voice she spoke with was still as sharp as before and the fear it put into Ivan’s chest was something even more so than the fear of Dr. Jenner’s pills. Ivan found himself locked in its chains, and she had only said three sentences.
“I….Ivan.” Ivan muttered quietly, and the woman let out a soft humming noise as she acquired the information. She brushed her hand over his cheek and kissed the side of his head, just above his ear.
“Ivan… A cute name for a cute boy…” She teased him with words full of poison. She was bad news, a woman completely different than Sister Anna and someone much worse than Dr. Jenner. Yet, she was full of warmth. Her embrace filled Ivan’s body with heat and he found himself breathing heavily as he attempted to return to his normal state of mind. It was difficult to do, impossible in fact. Her breasts were too much and the longer Ivan sat there, the more the woman wrapped herself around him. A viper sinking her fangs into its prey…. And Ivan was unequipped to fight back.
“My name, Ivan, is Liona and I want your help… Will you help me?” Ivan nodded, unable to tell the woman no. Her embrace was soothing his thoughts and her perfume fogged his senses. She pulled him into her body and he felt her legs slide along his hips; she was slowly sliding herself in for the kill. He swallowed hard.
“I need you to do some things for me, Ivan… And for each thing you do, I will grant you one… perfect… wish…” Ivan felt the woman brush her lips against his ear and he whimpered a little louder. Why weren’t the other people in the carriage helping him? He didn’t understand why anyone would let this sort of thing happen, especially to someone who was unable to help themselves! Yet, Ivan did not cry out. He did not plea to be saved and he did not fight the snake that was constricting him. He fell into her palm and felt his mind crack.
“But, you can’t tell anyone about me. If you do… then I’m going to make you disappear, Ivan... Do you understand?” Ivan felt the woman brush her fingers slowly against his neck, as if giving him a warning that only he could truly comprehend. Ivan was a blind boy in a city that was large enough for him to easily get lost in. Anyone who may have seen him and recognized him would probably forget him easily. Making him disappear would be too easy, and so Ivan nodded. He had been taken from one comfortable world already, and he didn’t want to leave another.
“Good, Ivan… I am happy to hear that. Now, your first task is easy… I need you to talk to a man named Alasdir… Say his name.” The woman spoke softly against Ivan’s head, her lips moving slowly across his skull as she moved from one side of him to the other. Her hands massaged his chest and his arms as her legs pulled his body deeper into her embrace. He was starting to slip again.
“A… Ala… Alasdir….” As if he was hypnotized, Ivan recited the name after some coaching. The name stuck and he envisioned it in his mind. Liona made him say the name three more times until he had it memorized completely.
“Good… Now when you meet him, you will ask him about the North… Ask him about how to get there and what you need to do to travel beyond the mountains… Got it?” Ivan nodded. Like the name, Liona made Ivan repeat the instructions until he truly showed he understood. After that, the carriage came to a halt. Liona pressed her lips into Ivan’s ear and whispered softly, her voice changing tones to one that Ivan felt his hormones throb over.
“Liona will give you whatever you ask for if you do this for her… So don’t mess up, okay? Bye bye, Ivan.” An instant later, Ivan was asleep.
* * *
When he awoke, Ivan found himself leaning back against a building. He still felt drowsy but it wasn’t due to being sleepy. It reminded him of a pill Dr. Jenner had gave him to ease his mind after one of the times he was forced to be alone. Except this time, there was no Sergei to brush his hair. The only thing to comfort him was the lingering scent of Liona’s perfume. It made his heart throb, while also making him feel deathly afraid. Ivan grimaced and slowly pushed himself to his feet. He needed to find Alasdir. Ivan didn’t want to, but he was fearful for what would happen if he didn’t.
The air was not that of Londinium’s and the ground was different. The composition of the buildings had also changed, as had the accents of the people he listened to in the streets. It was as if he was in a completely different location and when he checked such information on his display, he was not surprised; Avon. A place he had never heard of, but it was a place where he now was stuck. Ivan frowned at the idea of being somewhere unfamiliar and his knees shook, but he had no choice but to start walking. He would wander the streets and listen, hoping to pick up on something he could consider a clue. The day had turned into a new one during his time asleep and in the carriage so he did not worry about wandering around at night. However, he did worry about the amount of people he could possibly run into. Thankfully, it seemed like Alasdir was more important than Ivan thought.
Initially he had expected his search to be difficult and to take long. Yet within twenty minutes of walking Avon’s streets, he heard the name. The conversation was far too brief though and the name was only a single breath, but others followed after. His name, who he was, and questions as to why he was here. Some said that he was strange, others had whispers of words he had spoken. However none had what Ivan was looking for; a location. The whispers died off after a short time and Ivan found himself walking without hearing the name again for quite a while until he noticed something strange in the air; a mixing of scents. Ivan followed the strange trail around two corners and up a long road. The wind carried it far and Ivan’s sensitive sense snatched it like a thin ribbon. As the scent strengthened, Ivan found his pace quickening. It drew him in until finally, he heard a bell.
The boy stopped in his tracks and sniffed at the air lightly, and then listened to a man’s laugh softly just off to his front right. The smell was directly in front of Ivan and he knew where he was. He also noticed that he had walked into a dangerous spot. Ivan picked up the shuffling of steps and other voices around him. Without thinking, Ivan had walked right up to the side of a crowd and had stopped most likely right at the front of everything. He frowned and felt his face explode with heat as embarrassment clutched at his throat. Ivan went to take a step back, but only his toes hit the ground as another bell rang in his ears.
“Are you lost, child?” Ivan swallowed hard.
“Y-Yes… I… I am looking f-for a man…” Ivan’s voice was a soft whisper, but he found himself still speaking. He was going to take his chance, embarrassed or not.
“Oh? Who are you looking for?” The man nudged Ivan along and the bell rang in his ears again. It was a soft, ringing little bell. Probably one that Ivan could hold in his hand or one that he could attach to a puppy to keep track of where it was.
“I… I…” Ivan started to talk but his throat clenched. He swallowed a lump in his throat and licked his lips. The bell rang, pulsing his mind.
“Alasdir.” There were some loud whispers from those whom were standing around as Ivan called out the name, but the man only responded with a hum. Ivan heard some moving and then felt a hand rest on his shoulder. It was a big hand, muscular, and reminded Ivan of Mr. Whittiker.
“You’re in luck, boy. I am Alasdir.” Ivan felt his heart stop and he held his breath. Despair draped him in a thick veil and he felt the world start to spin. He wanted to look for the man, but never expected to find him. What was worse was that now that he had found Alasdir, Ivan was going to have to play Liona’s game. He swallowed another lump in his throat and took an unsteady breath as the man released his shoulder. Ivan could feel the woman’s presence looming just over his shoulder and felt her fingers brush over his neck.
The toxin was doing its work.
