The Girl with No Name Ch. 28

The musketeer was furious at Oana, because it was completely her fault those two women had been killed. Had they been helped to the north gate, there would have been enough Defenders to carry them down the hill. The musketeer couldn't do anything against the enemy soldiers, because there were at least 20 of them. He tried to return to the north gate, but the Red Moon troops had re-taken that section of the city and the only remaining escape route was through the ruins of the garrison building. The musketeer was determined to get out, but it was obvious he would not make it to the Grand Duke's evacuation. He remained hidden, hoping to survive until nightfall. Shortly after he found a promising hiding place, the Lord of the Blue Moon's soldiers launched an assault against their rivals. The Danubian survivor crawled through burning ruins as fighting raged all around him. By nightfall he had made it outside and was able to crawl through the partially-filled defense trenches to move away from the city and the fighting. He spent several nights sneaking northward until he reached the Duchy. Upon returning, he did not go to the capitol, because he did not know the evacuees had been taken there. Instead, he stole a horse and a set of clothing to set out for the Vice Duchy. He knew the names and the hometowns of the two dead nymphs, so he decided to look for their families and tell them what happened. He found Jeskéckta's family first and told them what he knew about their dead family member and Oana's betrayal. He then departed to find the second nymph's family and was not heard from again. From their description, Danka was able to confirm the identities of the two nymphs. So... it turned out that Oana had left not four, but six nymphs to be killed by the Kingdom of the Moon's troops. The only consolation was that the two other nymphs were killed quickly. Danka could only guess they must have had their crossbows ready and forced the enemy troops to shoot them as soon as they pushed the door open.

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During the month of October, Danka and her companions worked out the details of their revenge. They scouted the house several more times, making note of their target's schedule and the schedules of her various lovers. They bought furniture that matched Oana's furnishings, set up a replica of her living area, and practiced moving about in total darkness. They became completely familiar with the streets around the convent and how they would access the house and escape from it. Danka was happy to have Jeskéckta as part of the conspiracy, and even more happy that Jeskéckta looked exactly like her dead sister. For the ruse Danka was planning, the stroke of luck was perfect. While Danka and Jeskéckta worked out the lines they would say to Oana, Ernockt and Tanélickt purchased oil lamps and a prepared a chemical mixture that made lantern oil burn an eerie bluish-green. They prepared special dye to blacken skin and assembled several sets of tightly-fitting black clothing and matching face masks.

October seemed to pass by very quickly. The four conspirators spent most of their days planning their trap for Oana, but there was time to relax, enjoy each others' company, and even explore the area around Novo Sókukt Tók. Jeskéckta took her companions to her village and talked about the days when she and her sister were children, before her father tried to force her into an arranged marriage. Fortunately for Jeskéckta, the father had since died and a brother was running the family farm. Jeskéckta would have to leave eventually, but she was not in a hurry and was determined to have more say over who she married than her sister had.

Within a few days of meeting Jeskéckta, Tanélickt lost interest in Danka. He quit approaching her for sex and shifted his attentions to the villager. He entertained her with tales of the Defenders' exploits and descriptions of what life was like for the nymphs and musketeers. Not having seen anything apart from her farm and Novo Sókukt Tók (which she considered very cosmopolitan), Jeskéckta listened to the description of a fascinating world of adventure and danger. Danka noticed that Tanélickt exaggerated the bravery and performance of Jeskéckta's sister. In life she had not been an exceptional fighter, but her sister did not have to know that. Meanwhile, Tanélickt started asking about land and farming in the region and if there were available farms near Novo Sókukt Tók or homesteads further east. Jeskéckta promised to ask her brother the next time she saw him.

At first, Danka was glad to be free of Tanélickt's attentions. She liked him, but there was nothing intellectual about him and she would have been bored with him had they attempted to stay together. Being with Tanélickt, she realized she would be very hard-pressed to find someone as interesting as Ilmátarkt. Yes, her husband had a lot of strange ideas, but she was never bored talking to him and the conversations challenged her to think about the world in ways she had not previously imagined. Tanélickt was more a man of his era, competent with a musket or a plow, but not one to trouble his mind with things that did not directly affect his life. And yet, as Danka watched him and Jeskéckta flirt with each other, she felt a twinge of jealousy. It was the first time in her life a man who had been interested in her turned away to pursue another woman. Oh well. There was nothing for her to do other than wish them the best and finish her plot against Oana.

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By the last week of October the rains in the eastern valley had stopped. The first snowfall was only a few weeks away, but in the meantime cold dry winds whipped the last of the leaves off the trees. Now that the rain and fog had cleared, Danka had the chance to look at the steep mountains immediately to the southwest of Novo Sókukt Tók. In the distance Danka could see jumbled peaks where the headwaters of the Rika Chorna River were located. Just a year before she had been on the other side of those mountains in the Defenders' encampment, wondering what the Vice Duchy was like and listening to stories of fellow nymphs who were from places like Novo Sókukt Tók.

During the middle of the month, various friends of Ernockt snuck in with barrels of preserved food to lower through the floor and hide in a secret compartment under the house's basement. The Vice Duke's tax collectors were roaming around and typically barely left the farmers with enough food to make it through the winter. Danka and Jeskéckta helped Ernockt's friends with some of the cooking and preserving, which forced them to delay their plan to confront Oana. Finally, the farmers left at the beginning of the last week of October and Danka could resume her plot against Oana.

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On October 26th, Guard Mistress Oana Adonckta, the head of the security of the True Believers' Convent in Novo Sókukt Tók, entertained one of the town's young male watchmen, as usual. She did the same thing every night, unsure herself why she gave sex away for free. When she reflected on the matter, the only explanation she could come up with was that she simply enjoyed having sex and young men did not entangle her in any commitments.

Oana had lived alone for many years. She once was married, but it turned out she was unable to have children and her husband left her. She took advantage of her childless status to have a series of lovers. Eventually she joined the Defenders, mostly out of boredom. The militia life gave her much of the life she wanted, until that nasty newcomer Danka started causing so many problems for her squad and Dalibora undercut her leadership. Well, she did get even with those two, didn't she? Many would have said that it was inexcusable for a nymph to abandon another nymph, but that was just too bad. Danka and Dalibora, and the others for that matter, had caused trouble for Oana, so their deaths at the hands of the soldiers of the Kingdom of the Moon was what they deserved. Besides, it was the Destroyer, not Oana, who ultimately determined their fates. Meanwhile, she had started a new life and was proving her value to the True Believers, so her future seemed bright, maybe even more so than in the militia.

However, after her lover departed, Oana felt strangely uneasy. Something was not right. She lay awake in the darkness, listening to the cold wind blow through the streets and rooftops of Novo Sókukt Tók. She could swear she could hear a ghostly whisper:

"Nymphs take care of each other. A nymph never leaves her sister in the hands of the enemy. No nymph ever faces the pain of defeat alone..."

She took a deep breath and threw off her bed covers. She needed to light a lantern and see what was causing that strange whispering noise. The problem was she couldn't move her arms. Something, or someone, was holding her hands and feet to the bed. Then, to her horror, a woman's face slowly came into view. As it became increasingly illuminated, she recognized who it was, the injured young recruit from a village near Novo Sókukt Tók she had left behind in Aksheriri Ris, just before she fled though the north gate. For a few moments the face said nothing. It was obvious it must be a ghost, given the sad expression and weird blue-green illumination that could only come from the Realm of the Afterlife.

Oana opened and closed her eyes several times, trying to make the apparition go away. Then she began to pray:

"Destroyer I served you... Destroyer protect me... Destroyer I served you..."

The face spoke softly:

"But squad-leader... Defender Oana... why do you call upon the Profane One? Didn't you renounce the Profane One in the Temple Plaza? Didn't you say the Profane One has no power over the Realm of the Living? Didn't you betray the one whose protection you now seek?"

Oana gave up praying. It was true. She had renounced the Destroyer. The Destroyer had no reason, none whatsoever, to protect her.

"What... what do you want?"

"We miss you, Defender Oana. We need you to lead us in the Realm of the Afterlife, just as you led us in the forest. We want you to be with us. Remember, a nymph never leaves her sisters behind. We always go back. Isn't that what you taught us? So, we are coming for you."

"You're dead. I'm alive. You can't come back for me."

"Oh, but we can. We must. You see, Defender Oana, we betrayed you by leaving you behind in the Realm of the Living. It was wrong of us to do that, because we know you must miss us. You needed to go with us, to feel the pain of the soul's separation from the body, but sadly, it didn't happen. So... now the time has come for you to travel with us through the Realm of Darkness and Despair. Won't you join us?"

"No! Go away! You're dead!"

"Am I? Am I truly dead? Are you truly alive? How would you know that, Defender Oana? How would you know that? Am I the one who's dead? Are you the one who's alive? Or maybe... just maybe... it's the other way around..."

The face slowly faded into darkness. Then the whispering started up: "Nymphs take care of each other. A nymph never leaves her sister in the hands of the enemy. No nymph ever faces the pain of defeat alone..."

Suddenly Oana had the use of her arms and legs again. She frantically groped around the room for her lantern. She screamed when she thought she brushed up against something that moved. She knocked over the lantern and it fell on the floor with the sound of breaking glass. She screamed again and jumped out of bed to push her window open, letting in the frigid air. The cold didn't matter. She was desperate for light, any light, to prove to herself she was still in the Realm of the Living. She climbed out, tearing off her nightshirt as she clumsily fell on the ground. Her ruined nightclothes were hanging from her windowsill and she had some bad cuts and scrapes from her mishap. She stood outside her house shivering, not from the cold, but from mortal fear.

From a nearby hiding place, Danka coldly watched as the bewildered guards, nuns, and night watchmen gathered around Oana to see why, on a cold night, she was standing naked outside her open window and acting so strange. It was as though she had received a visit from someone from the Realm of the Afterlife, from a ghost she was mortally afraid of encountering.

Danka knew she'd have to congratulate Jeskéckta: her part in the plot had been perfect, her performance flawless.

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The group waited a week, to give Oana enough time to try to convince herself the ghost incident was nothing but a bad dream. Ernockt collected information from his various informants among the city night watchmen confirming Oana had been totally traumatized by her "nightmare" and was completely spooked. She barely slept and spent the nighttime with her lantern on pacing around her house. During the day she was very irritable and jumpy. The majority of the night watchmen were avoiding her because it was obvious something was very wrong. Maybe Beelzebub the Destroyer had something to do with her erratic behavior. If that was true, then she'd be dangerous to be around.

As the days went by, Oana became increasingly withdrawn and isolated. Her fear fed upon itself because there was no one she could talk to about its cause. Danka almost felt sorry for her, but not enough to change her plans. Oana had betrayed her most basic responsibility as a nymph and now she would have to suffer for it. Danka divided her time between rehearsing movements with the others for the second part of the ruse and observing her former squad leader to determine when would be the best time to strike.

On November 5th, Oana had a male visitor, the first one since her "nightmare". Her behavior during their sex was desperate, as though she could drive out her fear if she exhausted herself enough. Yes, she'd exhaust herself alright, and in doing so play right into Danka's plans. For the first time in over a week she'd sleep soundly, only to have a horrible awakening.

When the city watchman came out and talked to his counterpart on the street, Ernockt was hiding nearby. He overheard the men discussing the evening's sex and found out that Oana was soundly asleep when the man left her. Yes, her behavior had been extremely suspicious and erratic over the past eight days, but maybe that had passed. The watchman on the street commented that he wasn't feeling good at all and needed to warm up. The two men left together, leaving the house unguarded. Ernockt couldn't believe his good fortune. He returned to the safe house to summon the others. Less than a minute later they were inside Oana's residence.

Danka's target was too soundly asleep to feel the bedcovers being pulled back and her nightshirt being cut off her body. She did not notice that her new lantern, which she had kept burning continuously over the past week, had been put out. She lay naked and uncovered on her bed as Danka took off her own black gown, placed it near the door, and lay next to her. Oana curled up from the cold. She started stirring as she sleepily reached for her blanket. When she rolled on her back, Danka straddled her. Suddenly Oana's hands and feet were pinned to the mattress. Her eyes went open, wide with panic mere words couldn't even begin to describe. Danka's face, illuminated by the eerie blue-green light, filled Oana's entire range of vision. Danka's eyes appeared wild and completely black in the strange light, as though they were not the eyes of a person still alive. She was smiling seductively and with her hands held Oana's head firmly in place, her thumbs stroking the older woman's cheeks.

"Defender Oana... Defender Oana... answer me please..."

Oana was so petrified with fear she couldn't answer or struggle. Instead she started violently shaking.

"Don't be afraid. It's me. Danka. Don't you remember me? Don't you remember the first day we saw each other? In the logging camp? Don't you remember that?"

"I... I... please... be gone..."

"Oh don't worry about that. I won't be gone. Don't you worry about me leaving you again. It's true I left you in the Realm of the Living, when my soul separated from my body. I left you alone. We all did. But we felt bad about that, and it was always our intention to come back for you."

Danka gently kissed Oana's gaping mouth, in a shocking violation of Danubian protocol. Then she sensuously moved her naked body against Oana's. The older woman suddenly realized with horror that she was naked and Danka's naked ghost was violating her. Danka continued:

"I do love you. I will prove it. I will make you remember me. I will always be with you, watching over you. A nymph never leaves her sisters behind, isn't that so? Do you really think I'd leave you suffering in the Realm of the Living when you could be with us in the Realm of the Destroyer? We love you, Oana. We want you with us. We're returning for you, Oana, just for you. We'll all pay you a midnight visit, each of us, here in this very house, every time you go to sleep in this bed. And then, we'll take you with us. Isn't that wonderful? And when you join us, we'll remember how kindly you treated us. We will repay your kindness, love, sacrifice, and loyalty, many times over. You'll be with us, always and forever."

The light began to dim and Danka's smiling, leering face faded into darkness. In a well-practiced move, she quickly lifted up and flipped backwards, her fall caught by Tanélickt. At the same instant, Ernockt and Jeskéckta let go of Oana's hands and backed away from the bed. As Oana frantically flailed about in the darkness, they silently scrambled out the door. Danka grabbed her gown on the way out and in a single rehearsed motion, slipped it on. The moment they exited the house, they heard the crash of broken glass and knew that Oana had broken another lantern in the dark. The conspirators scurried along an alley as they heard their victim desperately banging against her window, trying to break through shutters she had re-enforced just a few days before. They disappeared into the safe house as Oana finally caught her breath and let out an unearthly scream of terror.

Danka and her companions hurriedly changed out of their black camouflage outfits and put on ordinary workers' clothing. The women put on scarves and the men wore loose-fitting hats that concealed their faces. Given that it was cold and windy outside, there was nothing unusual about their attire, nothing to draw anyone's attention. They would be simple bystanders, like dozens of others watching Oana's inexplicable descent into madness.

They went back out just in time to see Oana run down the street. She had not bothered to get dressed and was bleeding from her efforts to break out of her house. The house itself had been set on fire, so the night watchmen and the female convent guards were occupied trying to put out the flames. The conspirators weren't sure whether Oana had deliberately set the fire or if it had been set off by accident, but as soon as the flames reached the roof, the house was doomed. The guards were forced to run out and concentrate their efforts on preventing flying sparks from igniting the nearby barracks bunkhouse. The burning thatch collapsed into Oana's residence and destroyed everything inside. The nuns peered at the blaze from the windows of the convent, commenting that the soul of their leading guard must have been possessed by Beelzebub the Destroyer. After that hideous scream and the inferno that followed, the nuns were desperately afraid of the woman and hoped never to see her again. No one could blame them. So, Oana had just lost her home, all of her possessions, and her job.

The watchmen caught up with the possessed woman, captured her, tied her up, and took her to a warehouse for storing grain collected as taxes from farmers. Not wanting her to escape and not knowing what else to do with her, they chained her to a support beam. The prisoner's condition was not good at all. She was so spooked she was unable to speak coherently and her body was covered with painful-looking cuts and scrapes. Whatever else might be wrong with her, the guards did not want to leave her injuries unattended, so they summoned a town medical practitioner. Unfortunately for Oana, Ernockt knew all the practitioners in Novo Sókukt Tók and was a competent healer himself. So, when the guards asked a healer to leave his house, Ernockt, who just happened to be walking by, volunteered to go in the place of his friend. The practitioner, more than happy to be spared having to get dressed and go out on that raw, unpleasant night, handed over his medical kit. Ernockt passed the kit to the guards and told them to wait while he summoned his assistant.