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Chapter - Reap
Vella –
We’d been tracking them for days and we’d only lost the trail when they’d entered elf territory. Why they would choose to do so was beyond us, but it took longer than we’d hoped to detour around them. Now that we were back on the trail we were both exhausted. We’d taken only short rest breaks because they were already so far ahead of us.
Whinter would stop, crouch near the ground and take in their scent. Sometimes it had been there, and other times we would guess. But now as the hunt picked up pace, I could see the thrill light Whinter’s eyes and he forced us to move quicker than before. He assured us we would be upon them in mere days, maybe hours.
My arm ached still from where Whinter’s jaws had snapped shut around it. When I’d jumped from the castle wall, it was only because I knew he’d be there to catch me. Even as I’d jumped, I hoped I hadn’t been making a mistake. But seeing those golden eyes illuminating the moon, even with the shock of pain from fangs tearing flesh and grinding bone, I was happy.
I’d been terrified when I let him leave to cause a distraction. After the Darkness child defeated me I was afraid that they’d known we were coming, but it turned out that wasn’t so. He was only stronger than I’d anticipated, stopping my attacks like I was a child, but I wouldn’t make that mistake again. I couldn’t afford to.
I was lucky that the arm Whinter had managed to grab hadn’t been my strong arm. I’d healed the majority of the damage, and then set it in a sling and we were off. Traveling in a pair meant we weren’t noticed and we covered far more round alone than if I’d brought a small army. I could have used a small army right about now, but we simply didn’t have the time. I could feel it in my soul, the corruption of the future was so close it brought tears to my eyes when I tried to lose myself in sleep.
I thought Whinter would just ignore my tears, because there was no chance he wouldn’t smell the salt in the air, but he didn’t. He’d sat next to me, his hand in my hair. In times like those I couldn’t bring myself to look at the Wolf. I had no idea what his feelings for me could be, and I couldn’t identify any of my own feelings, let alone decipher his.
So I decided to accept his comfort without words and without thanks. When we would climb onto the horses and get back on the trail it was like nothing had come to pass at all. I preferred it as such, because if I’d had the peace of mind for it, I might have realized how much the Wolf meant to me.
Now we were in the midst of the mountains, Whinter’s eyes nearly glowing in excitement as we cornered out prey. I dropped my eyes to my dagger and prayed to my mother. I wouldn’t fail again.
Drust –
When next we rode, the sun had barely risen. It was hard to tell from beneath miles of thick clouds and flurry, but once daylight hit us, it somehow became even colder than the night before. This dramatic change in weather only served to remind me that we were running. The farther North we went, the colder the ice sank in my bones.
Skaa noticed, and while he’d been leading us the past couple of days, there was little he could do to help me while we rode. I cast what small spells I could to drain the life from passing trees whose pine needles brushed my sleeves, using it to warm my hands and feet, and taking what excess after that to try to warm my center. When the trees became sparse and the mountains flattened into fields of fresh powder, Skaa could move his horse closer to mine. He would extend his wing over my shoulders and bend the wind away from me.
It helped significantly, but I never stopped shivering and it never stopped snowing. When we stopped for the night, Skaa make sure I was okay, then took off without much word of where he was going. The horses were tied up behind a thick tangle off trees, safe from the wind where they stood net to one another and shared heat.
He actually wasn’t gone too long considering everything. Only a few hours passed before he returned, and he was carrying something with him. He landed with a skip and crawled under the lower tree branches covering the inlet and sided up to me. He pulled the pack from his back and handed it to me. “What is this?” I asked.
“Thicker furs. Yes they’re stolen, but it’s not like they needed them.”
I unwrapped them and replaced and added onto what I already wore. “Thank you.” The furs were quite nice, and it begged the question. “Who did you steal them from?”
He smiled in genuine humor like he was sharing a joke with himself. “A common trade route between Media and Sirria runs along the base of these mountains. I used to steal from these trade routes when I was young.”
That piqued my interest. “So we’re close to your home?”
He nodded. “Very close.”
I asked, “When we get close to their territory, how will they react?”
He shook his head. “You saw my memories; I’m a threat. It will be much harder for anyone to track us all the way up here though.” He put his hand on the back of my neck and asked, “How are you holding up?”
Another shiver shook my shoulders and I leaned closer to him. “It’s cold.”
He put his arm around my shoulders and rested his cheek on my shoulder. He pulled me close and hooded his wings, “Once we get around the peaks it’ll be better, but I’m worried about you.”
“I’m fine.”
He frowned and said, “You’re being defensive.” He took my hand in his and exhaled across my fingers. I hissed and the prickling heat and squeezed my fingers in a fist, my movement slow and numb. He kept exhaling over my fingers until he was satisfied and said, “We can’t keep going like this. If we don’t stop more often you’re going to freeze to death, or lose your fingers.”
I grumbled, “You’re exaggerating.”
“I’m not. And I don’t care if you don’t like it.” He let my hands go and moved his arm around my knees, dragging me against his chest. His skin was hot and I couldn’t stop a small groan as his body heat warmed my cheek.
I said, “Fine. Do what you want.”
He heaved an exasperated sigh. “Gods, was I this obnoxious?”
“Shut up.” I, gods forbid, snuggled as close to him as I could. There’s no manly way I could dance around it. I felt like a child looking to Skaa for support. I didn’t know this land or this weather and it was fucking cold. I’d fussed about it because it wounded my pride knowing I was slowing us down, but I knew he was right. I was miserable and the weather had a profound effect on my back and shoulders, stiffening muscles I didn’t even know I had. That, and I was so tired of riding horses.
I don’t know how Skaa knew, but he’d caught on to my aches and pains and he’d started a deep massage of my shoulders. It hurt like hell at first, but after he’d worked out most of the knots in my shoulders, I just felt numb. I couldn’t have returned the favor even if I’d wanted too.
I passed out in his arms and woke up with Skaa’s body between the frozen ground and me. I mumbled, “Was I out all night?”
He said, “Yeah. How’re you doing on the rations?”
“Last I checked we were good for another three days. Is that enough?”
He nodded, “If it isn’t, I can always hunt, and I don’t need to eat as much as you, especially in winter.”
Even as he spoke, he seemed distracted. I asked, “What?”
“A feeling.” He stared into the frozen landscape, only the slightest of breezes disturbing the setting. We both left the clearing and retrieved the horses as quickly as possible. Skaa kept lifting his chin and scenting the air, his ears rotating and twitching at sounds I wasn’t privy to. He dropped back so his horse trotted next to mine. He said, “Take the reigns, I’ll be back. I’m not going far.”
I watched as he sprang off the saddle and gained altitude. “Great,” I muttered. I walked the horses so he wouldn’t have to search long when he doubled back to find me. I kept a wary watch and waited for him to return.
I didn’t have to wait long. He dropped from above and landed in a crouch behind me on the horse. Storm jumped and pranced, startled, while I pulled him back under control. Skaa’s voice was tense. “Hellion, lots of them.”
“What clan? Do we fight or run?” I asked.
“I don’t know, I don’t recognize the scent. And we can’t run.” I slid from the saddle and put my hand on my sword. He looked at the horses and made a face. “We can use the horses as a distraction. They don’t know I know they’re there, so if we draw their attention we might be ale to outrun them, then fight.”
“Then run?” I looked over my horse with a stab of regret. I didn’t want to use him as a scapegoat, but when it boiled down to the horse or me, my life won out.
“They’re trying to surround us, but if we can break out of their circle before it’s formed and get a wall to our backs, we’ll stand a better chance.”
I asked, “How much time do we have?”
“Moments.” I laid my hand on the horses nose and whispered an apology, then gave them both a hard slap on the rump. They skittered forward, but what really drove them off was Skaa’s snarl when he lunged after them. They took off, making a considerable amount of noise while they went.
Skaa swept me off my feet and explained, “It’s faster if I carry you.”
I didn’t argue as he crouched and sprang into the air, hopping from one branch to another, using his wings to balance him and glide when he could. He was right about it being faster, but it also made me precariously nauseous. I clenched my jaw and tried to keep my eyes on a spot in the horizon, but in the arms of a Hellion springing from tree to tree it was nearly impossible.
He glided over a small clearing in the trees, backflapping and dropping me before he landed. I landed on my feet, but promptly fell over before I could steady myself. “You okay?” Skaa asked.
“I have a headache and I think I’m going to throw up.”
“Good. I’d get ready to fight.” If that’s what he thought was good I couldn’t imagine what bad was. I lurched to my feet and readied my sword, the world doing little spirals in my vision. I blinked it away and lowered to a crouch. Skaa reached for my waist, and when I heard the slide of steel I realized he was taking my dagger. That didn’t bode well if Skaa was resorting to weapons. I’d never seen him use anything but his claws, I didn’t even know if knew how to use a dagger.
All of this passed by in seconds, and as Skaa drew the weapon he moved back to back with me and faced the tree line. That’s when I saw them. It’s no wonder I hadn’t seen them before, they were completely opposite of Skaa, their skin as white as snow as were their ears, tails and hair. They had strange painted markings on their face and shoulders in what could have been blood. Their eyes were completely black, even their sclera, just like Skaa, except for the slash of white for their pupils.
It was eerie, seeing them move. They reminded me of Skaa with their feline grace and power, but instead of the savage brutality I saw in Skaa, they felt more like a whispering poison. They glided over the snow, their wings thick and short in comparison the Skaa’s broader, thinner wingspan. Skaa was built for endurance and speed, but these Hellion were built strictly for silence.
They hissed quietly to each other in the harsh language of their kind, creeper ever closer. Whatever they were saying made Skaa nervous as he let loose a low rumbling growl. I counted fifteen of them total, but that was only the Hellion I saw. I was sure there were others laying in wait out of sight. Skaa whispered, but didn’t take his eyes off the Hellion. “I don’t think they want to attack, they mean to capture. Whatever happens, go with it.” I hated surprises.
One of the Hellion facing Skaa stood and the others stopped, all about ten feet away, but still too close for comfort. A couple wrinkled their nose at my scent, but they mostly kept their attention on this leader. I watched as the Hellion did something unexpected. He tilted his head back and exposed his neck. When he lowered his head, his ears went down and his wings lowered until the flight feathers were brushing the ground.
Skaa spoke first, his tone demanding. The leader Hellion’s eyes slid to my gaze then back to Skaa. What he said next had Skaa bristling. Skaa’s tail lashed from side to side and his ears flattened against his skull. To my surprise, the Hellion backed down. He took a step back and lowered his eyes.
When he spoke next his tone was cautious and low. He made a gesture and a Hellion I hadn’t seen before, a female this time, walked forward until she was even closer to Skaa than the leader. There was no fear on her face or in her posture as the leader Hellion spoke in an excited tone. This time Skaa translated for me, his words cannon to the albino Hellion’s. /We give you a sacrifice Dark One, so you may demonstrate your greatness and satisfy your hunger./
I moved so I was closer to Skaa’s side and gave him a sidelong glance. He didn’t have to tell me how he was feeling; I felt his emotions through the bond as sharply as my own. He was angry, nervous, and a little fascinated. He answered the leader but this time he didn’t translate. I could only guess what he was telling him.
The leader shared a glance with another behind him and when he spoke it almost felt like a threat. They talked for a couple of minutes, and Skaa appeared defiant on the outside, but on the inside he was crumbling. He gaze never left the leaders eyes as he spoke to me. “I can’t get out of this. I have to kill her.” /Don’t stop me./
“I won’t.” I took a step back and straightened from my crouch, my sword tip sinking into the snow. I didn’t want to watch, but it was morbidly fascinating. The female didn’t budge as Skaa paced toward her. He reached out, his claws grazing her face in a gentle caress. His fingers twitched back, like he’d been burned and in that instant Darkness bound itself around her body in thick cords, tightening and fracturing bone. The female ‘s throat ripped with a gurgling scream, blood filling her lungs and streaming down her throat. Darkness gushed inside her body, tearing and destroying and snapped her ribs like dry twigs. With a wet slop and jerk, Skaa let her fall, her heart in his palm. Her broken body was strewn like so many fallen leaves, her blood marring the ground in grotesque blossom.
He hadn’t spent long in contact with the Darkness, but the thrill of her death was as clear as the subtle demand for more that I felt through the Bond. He let out a sharp, quick exhale, his breath floating away in the wind.
He crushed her warm, wet heart in his hand, throwing it to the snow in disgust and paced forward slowly and deliberately, demanding submission. The Hellion fell back from his advancement like he was a plague. His voice was thick was loathing and fierceness as he spoke, daring him to question his birthright.
The leader Hellion fell to his knees, head bowed and gushed a stream of words so fast it was a miracle Skaa understood them at all. The pale Hellion looked up like he was expecting a response. Skaa was silent for a moment, then turned to partially face me. After some debate, The Hellion started to scatter and move away. I asked Skaa, “What’s happening?” I was positive these savages didn’t speak my language.
He gestured for me to join him at his side, the leader Hellion not making any sign to move. “He says there’s no denying who I am, and he wants to aid me in the reincarnation of their God.”
“What? He means Zeil-“ His hand was on my mouth so fast my heart was pounding.
“Don’t speak his name. It’s a bad idea, trust me.”
He removed his hand, the leader watching our exchange with a sly amusement that pissed me off. “What happens if we don’t go with them?”
He said, “They make us.”
“Brilliant.” I asked, “What are you going to do?”
“Go with them.” He stood so his wing was curved over me, his tail loosely coiled around my feet.
“Okay,” I said. “After that?”
“Sneak away. Or, we kill them, then sneak away.”
“Brilliant plan,” I muttered, “How do they intend to
aid in the reincarnation?”
He shifted, his eyes darting to mine, then started to walk, the alpha Hellion leading us back into the woods. “It doesn’t matter, it won’t come down to that anyway.” I also hated secrets, but I followed close on his heels anyways. They said they wanted Skaa, but at the moment I might possibly be free game.
We walked for longer than I would have liked, my thoughts drifting back to the horses. Hopefully they weren’t dead, otherwise my guilt for the week would be at an all time high. Every once in a while I would think I saw movement, but when I looked, there was nothing there.
We ended up on a cliff face, strange symbols carved into the wall as high as I could see and I got the impression that these Hellion weren’t the ones that made them. The Hellion whose name was beyond me led us to the entrance to a cave. The inside was clearly this clan’s home, the floor scarred from claws and dusted with downy feathers that danced in little circles in the corners.
In the cold it didn’t smell like much, other than the dead boar about a hundred feet away I could only smell ice and wind. The ceiling was high, eroded ruins making perches for the pale savages. All of them, which had to be at least four dozen, had eyes on Skaa, and consequently me, because I couldn’t have been more then three feet from him.
Skaa hadn’t taken his wing from my shoulders; his feathers almost close enough to tickle my neck. Eyes stared down from crumbled ruins all around us like owl sentries and send chills down my spine. The cave opened up into a tall space, this room’s ceiling too far to see the ceiling. Blue flames danced in the whole circumference of the room. The leader led us through the flames, the fire not burning him as he stepped through it, so I didn’t think it would burn me either. I stepped over the circle and some of the Hellion around us seemed to relax, but none of them left.. I asked Skaa, “What was that all about?”
/They thought you wouldn’t be able to step into the circle. If you aren’t a true disciple of Zeilyr you would have been killed instantly. Before you argue, you’re bonded with me and that tricked the spell into letting you across./
“Oh. What’s that?” In the center of the room and the runes carved into the floor, there was a circular altar type pedestal, all carved from the blackest stone I’d ever seen. It shone like metal, but looked more like polished stone. Unlike the rest of the ruined temple, this room was relatively unscathed and the altar was completely immaculate. Just looking at it made me feel sick.
Skaa wrinkled his nose at a scent and his eyes started darting around for an escape. It was too dark for me to be of much use to him, and the blue fire didn’t seem to cast much light at all. The leader Hellion snapped an order at a Hellion above him and it scampered away into the dark. The leader looked at Skaa and gestured to the altar, his mouth tilting up into the first smile I’d seen on him. It increased my feeling of panic and I looked to Skaa. “What do we do?”
“I don’t know, but I hope they’re only interested in me.” His voice was tight and grim as he watched the Hellion from before return. It dropped next to the leader’s sider and gingerly passed him a hiltless weapon that seemed to be made from red glass. I wasn’t sure what that was for, but weapons were made for only one purpose. I put my hand on my sword, the arrogant bastards not having disarmed me. The leader didn’t even flinch. He gestured to the altar again, his voice carrying much more urgency.
I hadn’t noticed it before because it had been too quiet, but the Hellion perched above us had begun whispering, their voices drifting like wind on the moor. I was liking where this was going less and less. I gasped when a hand gripped my wrist and jerked me away from Skaa’s side. I froze, the chill of a blade pressed against my neck.
Skaa watched, his jaw tightening in frustration. If I were at the mercy of a human I would have been confident I could escape, but I’d seen these things move. I wasn’t fast enough or strong enough to match one when I was already caught. If only I’d seen it in time.
Skaa saw the defiance in my eyes and might have mistakenly interpreted it as recklessness. He swallowed, his eyes on the blade on my neck, then gestured to the leader, speaking rapidly and calm. The leader took a step back his eyes catching the eyes of the Hellion holding me hostage. It didn’t let me go, but Skaa visibly relaxed. He paced towards the altar, the leader close on his heels and hopped up onto it.
My heart hammered in my chest, my fear blinding me to my own stupidity. In a blur of movement I took my free hand and slammed it into the Hellion’s wrist. It was forced to drop the knife out of reflex, but I still had its claws to worry about. I twisted in his grip, planting my feet and throwing him over my back. It slammed into stone on it’s back and I drew my sword before it could recover. I stabbed the blade into its heart and whirled to fight the next. I froze at Skaa’s voice in my head and in my ears. “Reevay!” /Stop!/ The Hellion froze as well, all of us stopped mid attack. Skaa spoke solely to me, his eyes burning with fierce authority . /I have a hunch./
My heart skipped in my chest when the leader plunged the glass blade into his heart. The blade dissolved into liquid that could have been blood and splashed on the altar, Skaa falling to his knees with a gasp. Skaa blinked slowly, then fell forward the Bond screaming in warning. My mate was about to die. I dropped my sword and my throat tightened in an echo of his agony. This couldn’t…
Then I saw it, a Darkness where there shouldn’t be Darkness, a gathering of shadows in the air around the altar. My hands shook in fear as the shadows took form, the shadows congealing into the shape of an enormous dragon. It arched it’s lithe neck up to the unending darkness above, his jaws stretching like it was roaring, then it snapped it’s jaws shut with a resounding snap, its head wipping down so it’s snout was point down to the altar. It took two thundering steps forward, its forearms bending into wings like a bat as it snaked forward.
It had no eyes, but I could tell its attention was focused on the Leader of these Hellion. Its voice hissed in the air, the power laced into it making my very blood boil.
Nnnone of you are worthy…nooooo…sssssooo unpuuuuurree. I trembled and stepped back, tripping over the body of the Hellion I had slain moments before. I fell with a grunt, afraid I had drawn the God’s attention. His focus was still zeroed in on the Hellion that had stabbed my mate.
Through the Bond I felt him fading, his life slipping away in the blood that coated the surface of the altar. The God stretched his jaws wide and regurgitated what looked like thick ink over the entire altar, engulfing Skaa. It spread from the altar in a torrent and I scrambled to my feet. It spread around my ankles, cold as ice and started to rise, not like a normal liquid, but as what could have been a living creature, gripping my legs and twisting around my torso. I yelled, squirmed and fought in instinctual panic.
To my surprise, the Darkness seemed to listen to my protest and it recoiled and spread around me like I was a rock in a stream. The Darkness was devouring every Hellion, but the leader, who watched in panic as his followers disappeared in screams of agony.
Then the God snapped it’s mouth shut, its tail curling around Skaa’s body and lifting him from the puddle of Darkness. It dropped him and he fell in a weary crouch, one hand clenched over his heart. The God’s form was already beginning to crumble as it spoke.
I look forward to the next time you die. It raised its snout and stared directly into the Leader’s soul.
Vermin…you’re coming with me. It snapped its jaws shut over his body as the leader screamed, then collapsed in a splash of watery tar, the leader and the God simply gone. I ran to Skaa’s side, my mate bent forward and panting. My voice shook. “That was some hunch.”
He let out a soft, mangled laugh as I clambered on to the altar and drew him into a hug. He was sticky and wet with blood, but I didn’t care. He wasn’t dead.
He said, “I want to leave.”
“I second that.” I helped him off the altar, his legs shaking when he tried to stand. I was almost no better, adrenaline making my very cells shiver in anticipation of danger that was no longer there. My heart still hadn’t stopped hammering and I panted, my eyes darting around the caves for any sign of danger as I led him out of there. There was no sign of any of the Hellion, there weren’t even bodies left.
I swore when I tripped over a stone, but Skaa caught us with his wings, his free hand resting over my heart. “Drust, are you okay?”
He planted his feet and forced me to stop and answer his question. “No I’m not fucking okay! You died, you were dead, I felt it! Somehow
I’m not dead!”
Concern creased his brows and he turned and put pressure on my shoulders and forced me to sit. “Drust, breathe.”
“Do I
look dead?!”
“Shh, calm down, calm down. Look at me. We’re not dead, we’re okay.” He crouched in front of me and kept one hand over my heart, the other on my neck and cheek, his fingers massaging my scalp. I was still gulping down air, my hands shaking as I wringed them together. Dizziness crept in on me and made my vision darken. “You’re panicking, if you keep it up you’ll pass out. Slow, deep breathes.”
I closed my eyes and did what he said and slowly, my heart stopped racing and my breathing became somewhat normal. I opened my eyes and hunched forward, shaking my head. “How can you feel normal?” And he did, minus his physical weakness I felt only concern for me.
He tilted his head, analyzing his feelings. “When…when I was dead. That’s sounds stupid. I was dead, and when his power seeped into me, it wasn’t frightening…it felt like…home.”
The was nearly as startling as seeing him die. I didn’t have anything to say to that, so instead I asked, “He looked pretty solid there, what’s he need you for?”
“Did you notice, he drained the life of every Hellion in that temple to revive me and hold his form. Even then he couldn’t hold his form for more than an instant, and that was in an arcane temple dedicated to him. And he’s a God, that was only a taste of what’s capable of.”
“Great.” I muttered sarcastically. I looked around then stood without issue. “Let’s get out of here.”
We left as quickly as we could and never looked back. Skaa took to the sky to see if he could find the horses, and to my disappointment, he couldn’t. If that was the case they might have been stolen, and it gave me at least a sliver of hope that they hadn’t become food for some predator.
We decided to head to the nearest trade route to see if we could barter for another horse and to see if we couldn’t pay for a bath. I still had my money on me at least, and that was good enough for me. Skaa had seen a small caravan up ahead and said that if we kept up the pace we could probably cut them off in a couple of hours.
As we walked I was grateful for the lack of wind and the comfort that the exercise was at least keeping me warm. I started talking, “When I was young, I remember straying too far from the forest and happening upon a young girl lost in the woods. She’s gotten turned around and had ended up walking the opposite direction of her village. I was concerned, so I helped her. When I told my father, I was punished for influencing events beyond our borders. When I argued that she would have frozen to death if I hadn’t helped her, he said he didn’t care. That’s when I started to hate him.”
Skaa listened as asked, “Why are you telling me this?”
“You know almost nothing about my past, so I thought I’d tell you.” I continued, “Even though I’ve the blood for it, I was never very good at magic. I never had the peace of mind to understand the subtleties of it, and I took to the sword instead. I think that’s when my father started to understand that I would never be like them. He knew that people didn’t change, and he knew that we would only continue to grow apart. I never could tell how that affected him, but I know it made me angry. I sought an outlet for my rage and started venturing farther and farther from my home, until I wondered why I was returning at all. I left and joined the Steelarms to fight in the East. After a time, I couldn’t remember why I was so angry, and it became depression. You saw it in me when I first met you. I had isolated myself, and I thought I couldn’t ever change.”
He looked at me and said, “You did change. Thank you.” That felt good to hear, knowing I was needed.
We walked in comfortable silence after that, both stopping at the top of a ridge we came across the caravan. It was a small band of Grimoire. Skaa and a shared a look and I shrugged, “It’s not like we have anywhere else to go.”
Skaa sighed and rubbed at a forming headache. “This is a bad idea.”
I snorted and started forward carefully in the fading light towards the fires they had built. “Of course it is. Quick before we come to our senses.”
I called out from the edge of their camp, certain to announce myself before the fired blindly and killed me. “Grimoire, we’re only travelers and we seek aid. Will you help us?”
Those sitting around the fire stood and drew their swords. One man called out. “Step forward, so we may see your faces.”
I warned them. “My friend and I ran into trouble with bandits and were robbed, so don’t be alarmed by our looks.”
I stepped forward into the firelight, Skaa keeping to my close right, the side farthest from the strangers. The group gave me the once over, their dog whining at the sudden interruption. The man who had spoke before had a beard and a permanent scowl etched onto his face. He asked, “What traveler is robbed and ends up with blood all over them? I sense a liar.”
I slowly reached for my sword, my hand on the sheath and tossed the sword forward in the snow. “We mean you no harm. And you’re a wise man, to sniff out a lie from me stranger. No we were no robbed, but you wouldn’t believe the real story even if I told you. And I don’t want to scare your children.” At my words, the two young boys, both maybe ten years of age perked up and creeped closer to see us.
The man’s frown deepened and he said, “I don’t trust you, but I don’t sense an ill intent either. Can you promise such good intentions for your Hellion friend as well?”
Skaa answered him. “I don’t wish you or your family harm, but if I trusted
you more I would leave my friend with you and sleep on my own far from your kind.”
He gave us a good long stare, then chuckled. “Give us your weapons and you Hellion, stay far away from my sons and you can stay the night.”
I relaxed, my shoulders and neck tense and aching. “Thank you, sir.” They gave us a fresh set of clothes when I traded them some coin and melted some snow for us to clean the blood from our skin and clothes. A woman by the name of Mara took the cleaned garments and hung them up near the fire where they could dry. I thanked her and listened to their idle chatter and talk about memories long since past.
They fed us and then asked for my name. I didn’t want to lie, so I gave them my real name. “Drust.”
The man with the sons, he told us his name. “Torlan. So tell me Drust, what brings the half-elf general and a Hellion this far North?” I tensed and looked down at my food. “It isn’t poisoned, I recognized you moments after I saw you. We’re not your enemies Halfling.” When I didn’t speak, he asked again. “Why are you here?”
I searched my mind for a lie, and couldn’t fabricate the truth, because the fact of the matter was, I wasn’t sure what we were doing anymore. We were running, but nowhere in particular. Skaa glanced at me in sympathy and asked, “Does it matter?”
He nodded in understanding. “For two men so young I’ve never seen anyone so hopelessly lost.” I met his eyes and flinched. I was scared of him, not because he was stronger or intimidating, but because he saw right through me. Skaa seemed more intrigued than uncomfortable and asked, “So tell me old man, where should we be going?”
He smiled. “Impetuous, I like you. You know I can’t answer that, and you both seem intelligent enough to figure it out. You’ve already learned the most important lesson life can teach you.”
I asked, “And what is that?”
“Life is precious.” He didn’t continue, he simply stood and walked to the edge of the camp, relieving the young man on watch and replacing him.
This whole time I’d been aware of Mara’s eyes on me, watching me like she expected me to morph into a tiger then fly away. “What?” I demanded.
She cast a glance at Torlan and I realized he must be her husband, then she stood and moved around the fire. She gave me a warm smile, the wrinkles around her eyes deep from overuse. “Thank you for saving my son.” Then she left and went to the small wagon at the back of the camp to sleep with the rest of the women. I hadn’t even been aware that I’d saved anyone, and it made me uncomfortable that I couldn’t remember who she was talking about.
Skaa sensed my discomfort and said, “It doesn’t matter if you remember him or not, the fact is that you made these people happy. You should be proud.”
I was warm, full and tired, so I curled up on the bedroll they’d given me to sleep, the idle talk of some of the group falling to the background. Skaa curled up next to me, not quite as close as he usually did out of modesty, but enough to keep my back warm and send me to sleep.
