Post by Loendal on Jan 11, 2014 5:22:42 GMT -5
Chapter 3 - The Beginnings of Enlightenment
Talinon and I camped deep within the woods that night without a campfire. It would do us very little good should the enemy come and find us. Talinon set to bandaging up the gash on the side of his head and I brooded in stony silence against a tree. After a long and bitter silence, Talinon spoke softly, in his most reassuring tones.
“My prayers are with you, sir. I know something like..”
I cut him off mid-sentence with a hard punch across the jaw, sending him tumbling backwards into the dirt.
“I don’t need your damnable prayers, sergeant! You just mind your own self and don’t waste your prayers on me, OR my mother! Save them for yourself!”
Talinon’s face flushed crimson red with anger and unspent rage. But he only sat there, rubbing his jaw and glaring up at me.
“With all due respect, SIR,” emphasizing the word with a cold sneer as he got to his feet. “You are not the only one lost of family this night. Think of the townspeople who saw their children cut down under the spear and sword. Think of the innocence of childhood lost due to the witnessing of such tragedy. I would think m’lord would be a bit more considerate of the town he failed.”
I was ready to smash this young man’s head against the nearest tree and my fists clenched tight. I glared over at him with an icy stare that would send chills through the hardest of hearts. He just stood there, his arms crossed at his chest and watched me quietly. All too ready for the coming blow. I could not bring myself to strike him, he was right, I had failed my people, my family and my sovereign. My shoulders slumped as I turned away and leaned against a tree, resting my forehead against my arm.
“Dispense with the formalities Talinon,” I said softly, staring down at the ground, “they hardly matter now. It’s just you and I out here. I have heard tales that these barbarians leave few alive in the towns they strike. Those strong enough to work are taken along as slaves, we will find no survivors tomorrow morning.”
“We should report the attack to Lord Fontelroy at first light..” Talinon offered as he glanced back towards the distant glow of the burning town. “As if he didn’t already know.”
“You would report our failure to the Lord so quickly?”, I challenged him, “Send us to the hangman’s noose in a blink? You don’t even want to find the bastard who did this?”
“Proper procedures tell us..”
I whirled around and swept my arm before me in emphasis
“Proper procedures mean little when you are already dead! If we arrive on Lord Fontelroy’s doorstep in the middle of the night and tell him we are the only survivors of a town-destroying attack and you were he, the suspicious moron he is, what would you think of you? Do you truly think he will believe us NOT to be a part of the barbarian horde?” I stepped closer to him, resting a hand on his shoulder and speaking a bit more gently.
“Not to mention being two guardsmen, let alone two OFFICERS, that deserted their posts while the others died under the flame? I’m sorry Talinon, I can not accept that. I WILL find my mother’s killers, I WILL find the bastard who burned my home town to the ground and send him to hell myself.”
The resigned sigh I got in response told me he knew I was right.
“How are we supposed to find the man, it’s like seeking a single stalk of wheat in an entire field.”
“Well, first off, we get rest. On the morrow we return to Sundberry and gather up equipment and any supplies the enemy overlooked. Then we simply head east. Simple enough eh?”
An insane grin twisted into my face, I cared very little about life or death after this night, and I would do as I planned, with or without Talinon’s help. He sighed again and took one more longing look towards the glow on the horizon. “I will take first watch Cap.. erm.. Loendal”. My name stumbled out of his mouth awkwardly, he was unaccustomed to saying it. I nodded and silently forgave his hesitation and concern. I moved back across the way and slumped down into the grass against a tree. They say one cannot sleep with eyes open, that night I proved that theory wrong.
Talinon stirred me from my contemplation as the moon reached its highest point in the smoky skies. I nodded in silence and he clasped my wrist, helping me to my feet. I took his broad sword from him. I would need a weapon, and that was all we had. I motioned to a clear spot nearby that I should have used for my own sleep and he nodded, moving towards the bare spot. I shook myself to further consciousness and looked around the area, calculating any weak points in the surrounding trees through which any foe, be them man or beast, could arrive unnoticed. I glanced back over where Talinon was already fast asleep, I noticed he was much younger then I had remembered him. His cold outward shell that I always saw around the academy was gone, replaced by the reality of a young man that shivered in the cold. So long as I had known him he never once was out of the academy. He always stayed in town, walking his patrols. A true town guard, just like those simple men I saw growing up. He did not deserve this, he wanted to live in that town till old age claimed him.
“Poor lad”, I whispered to myself.
“Poor lad indeed” answered that rumbling voice again “You will find him most helpful my son, he will be your first”
I jumped at the suddenness of the voices’ arrival within my mind and my heart began to race.
“My first what?” I thought
“Why, your first true believer of course!” answered the voices again
I was angered at this intrusion into my mind, I felt my privacy was violated. Here I was, unable to think to myself without this stranger poking his way into things.
“Why are you doing this to me!? Who are you!?” I screamed within my mind, daring the voices to answer
“I am He that created Them, and He who guides you upon your path”
“I have no path! I only want revenge on that barbarian scum. I want his head on a platter before me! I want HIS mother to watch him die as I was forced to watch my mother fall!”
“You have so much rage… So much fury.. Surely your life has not been so bad. I have watched you since the time of your birth. Waiting for such a moment in your life. You had clung so strongly to those around you that you could not even see my Truth”
“What TRUTH!? You speak in nonsense! The Truth lies in my blade, in my skills, in..”
“In yourself alone” the voices interrupted.
“Yes… In myself alone. I have no need for others! I live by my own way! You have no right to judge me!”
“If you have no use for others why are you so set upon ye mother and father’s deaths?”
“That’s different! I… Well because I.. You don’t...”
I threw up my hands in frustration, storming over to a tree. Slamming my fist into the solid trunk, I drew blood. This intruding voice was right. I couldn’t find any way around it. They were right.
“Good.. You have learned that others are needed. Does it not make sense then that others need you as well?”
“Who needs me?” I asked bluntly, sadness burning away my anger and outrage.
“I do Loendal.. We do.. All of us.”
“And who are you? Please, I beg of you, no riddles. Who are you?”
“I will be known as The Dragonlord to you and to those you will teach of me.”
“I am hardly educated M’lord Dragon. How am I to teach others?”
“One does not need education to understand peace do they? Come, walk with me and I will explain”
I felt a presence behind me, a deep, powerful something and I hesitantly turned around. I saw nothing.
“If you wish to see, you must believe that I am there. Without belief, I cannot exist. And I will simply vanish into nothingness”
Still I saw nothing, I squinted my eyes through the dark woods. Splotchy bits of pale gray moonlight sprinkled here and there through the trees, and I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Spinning around to my left I again saw nothing. A sudden painful thud on the back of my head brought me into grim reality as I fell headfirst into the dirt. I rolled on my back, just in time to catch a glimpse of the spiked club flying down towards me. The be-furred human wielding the club cursed in a language I could not understand as his club smashed into the dirt near my head, rousing Talinon awake with a frightened cry. I quickly rolled to the side and leapt up, cutting upwards into the man’s chest with my sword in both hands. I ripped the blade outwards and upwards, slashing up along his side to his back as I brought my blade to a ready position. The barbarian fell to the dirt with a gurgling cough. Another of the eastern enemies dived at me from my right, tackling me down on top of his comrade’s corpse. My blade scattered away from me as the air was forced from my lungs under the man’s weight. He raised his left hand up bringing it back down with ferocity towards my head, a curved short sword in his hand. I managed to roll to my back and catch his wrist with both hands, but the force of his strike brought his fist down at my face, smashing into my nose. Suddenly he grunted in pain as Talinon arrived and sent a mail-booted foot into his midsection, knocking him off of me. I yet clung to his wrists and rolled with him, bringing my elbow over and around to crush into the man’s head and cutting open his cheek. I sat on his belly and wrested away his sword arm. I felt a strange rush, easily double the jolt I gain from my usual battle fever and a strange orange glow seemed to surround all that I saw. I raised my right hand up by my head and noticed the look of confused shock and fear in the man’s eyes just before I brought my punch down hard into his face, over and over again. Before I even knew it, the man’s head and face was concave, smashed inwards. My hand and clothing splattered with his blood. A third barbarian soldier came diving into the campsite and our eyes met. The entire scene surrounded by the orange glow on the edges of my eyes. The look of panic in his face was most bizarre, these men are known for their bravery in battle. He took one look at me and skidded to a halt, quickly turning around and making back for the woods from whence he came. Talinon yelled a curse and snapped up his broadsword from the ground, giving chase. Shortly later I heard a wet thud in the shadows just outside my vision. I leapt to my feet as I heard hasty footsteps returning this way, I crouched down and scooped up the curved blade, every nerve on edge, watching and waiting. A shape began to form in those shadows, a shape ringed by that same orange. My muscles tensed up tight as the figure came into the moonlight; I leapt forward, covering an ungodly distance in so little time. I had no clue how I could move so quickly, but brought my blade screaming down from on high, only to have it caught upon the blade and crossbar of a broadsword and shoved aside. A firm grip on my collar yanked me forwards and to the side, tossing me into the dirt. I was back on my feet in a quick bound, blade at the ready. Talinon suddenly held up a hand and yelled “HOLD!” Sanity returned to me as I recognized the familiar face. Talinon stood there, his sword broken just above the crossbar, staring at me with a mix of fear and awe. The orange glow around him began to fade and I looked down at the broken sword blade at my feet. My reflection was not my own, but of a strange, beastly visage of a man; a man with glowing braziers of bright orange dragonfire in his eyes.
Talinon stared awestruck at me for a moment, unwilling to believe what his eyes just witnessed. He later said I acted like a man insane, yet completely in control. That blazing Dragonfire in my eyes sprung to life at the peak of my savagery, and seemed to grant me additional strength. Things were beginning to make more and more sense. This was culminating into something far greater then simple insanity. Some deeper form of purpose began to form in my mind, The Dragonlord needed me for something, that much was obvious, but who actually WAS the Dragonlord? And why his keen interests in me? And to what did he mean ‘The first of the true believers’ when speaking of Talinon.
“Si..” he stammered for a moment, “Loendal.. What was that? What happened to you?” he asked quietly, picking up his broken blade from the dirt.
“I wish I knew myself.” I responded, wiping away the blood trickling from my nostrils. “I was stronger, insanely strong, yet still in control of my senses?”
“Indeed, save for when you leapt at me. And that glow in your eyes.”
I nodded slowly, trying my best to change the subject away from that which I didn’t understand in full.
“Forgive me for that, I was unsure if that was you or that fool of a barbarian. In the pitch of battle, you can loose track of your allies quickly.” He nodded his understanding and looked between his useless hilt and shattered blade.
“Seems were defenseless now. Maybe we should get moving, do you want to head back towards Sundberry? Do you think they’ll be gone?”
I hadn’t noticed that the night had slipped away by this time, and the sun began to rise slowly in the east, casting long, chilly shadows through the forest. With this patrol in the woods, we were not sure if there might be more. The only weapons we had were the club and curved blade, neither of them were all that well made, and the balance seemed off. If we ran across another patrol, we might not be so lucky. That bizarre rage that gripped me might not arrive again. Perhaps it was a one-time event.
“If we take it slow and cautious, especially in that field out there, we should be all right. Just stay close and keep alert lad, we don’t need another surprise this morning.”
Talinon nodded quickly and grabbed the club from near that mangled corpse, shuddering as he stood up. The boy was not used to the sight of battle, he had never seen anything like it before.
“I know this is hard for you Talinon, you’re out of your element. Battle takes time to understand.”
“I understand battle well enough; but not something like that. What made such ferocity so easy to claim? You were unarmed and look what you did.” He motioned back towards the unfortunate barbarian and again to the snapped blade on the ground. “That takes more then mere battle fever.”
I wanted to tell him all I knew, it seemed right somehow, to explain it to him. But something told me he wasn’t ready yet. The voices in my head spoke softly, barely an audible whisper.
“He will be your first…”
I thought back in response,
“And if he thinks me truly insane? What good will that do this purpose you have for me?”
“Trust in me, he will understand”
I sighed and nodded, taking in a deep breath
“Talinon, do you believe in the gods?”
“I suppose so, in certain circumstances” he said as he shoved aside a low hanging branch and stepped around an interposing tree. His voice seemed calmed, happy to change the subject.
“Do you think they communicate with us?”
“Again, in certain circumstances, yes. That’s what the priests and faithful hear on…” His voice fell silent as he began to realize what I was moving towards in my questioning. It was if he already knew what I was thinking. “Come now, Loendal.. Surely you don’t believe the gods have the time to talk with you personally do you?”
“God or Demon, something speaks to me in my dreams.”
Talinon stopped dead in his tracks, slowly turning to face me. The fear was etched visibly on his face as he regarded me in the cold morning air. I matched his gaze quietly, waiting to see what response I could read from it. He hurriedly whirled around and made his way further through the trees, his pace quickening. I shook my head and followed along quietly, watching the trees for danger. Not a further word was spoken between us.
When we arrived on the outskirts of Sundberry the stench of death was all around, mingling with the wet soot and smoke the dew had fallen upon through the night. Rage built up within me as I looked around at my devastated hometown. I clenched my fist as we practically crawled our way past rows of shattered mortar and brick houses. I wanted revenge so badly I could taste it. Talinon hesitantly placed a steady hand upon my shoulder as we neared my parent’s home. Silently reminding me of his support for my grief. We heard a scraping sound from our left and tensed, huddling back against the wall of what used to be the town’s bakery. We froze as the sound grew closer and watched in horror as a mangy dog crept by, his side singed black from flames and his tail severed near the stump. In his jaws he clutched the burnt and disfigured arm of a small child. He whirled around on us and let out a low growl as he began to back away, taking his scavenged meal with him. Talinon quietly gagged and turned away, as I stood in shock. The dog turned and ran, leaving only the echoing crackle of dying flames and the pounding of our hearts. I felt Talinon shudder again and it was my turn to reassure him. I reached back and gently patted the young man’s back, it seemed to do little good, but he did turn back around and focus upon our goal as best he could. We moved out from the wall and moved towards the Academy, ever alert for signs of life. As I had assumed, there were none. We passed many of our former townsmen and women, those that dared to stand against the barbarian hordes. They were butchered and cut down, from the eldest women to the newborn babes. These fiends knew no honor, no compassion, and no exceptions. Talinon’s face grew cold and ashen, locked in a grimace of mixed rage and helplessness. There were no words to be spoken, his heart had grown cold. He wanted blood, I could read that in his eyes. He wanted sweet revenge, as did I. I grinned inwardly to myself as we arrived at the rubble of the Academy and made for the torn walls of the armory. We managed to scavenge out a pair of daggers, a long and a broad sword. The only armor there was tattered and burnt leather, useless scraps. We made ready and divided up the weaponry. I never had need for a dagger at that time, and so I gave them to Talinon and kept only the Long sword for myself. We only knew that the Barbarians came from the east, and we headed in that direction.
Talinon and I camped deep within the woods that night without a campfire. It would do us very little good should the enemy come and find us. Talinon set to bandaging up the gash on the side of his head and I brooded in stony silence against a tree. After a long and bitter silence, Talinon spoke softly, in his most reassuring tones.
“My prayers are with you, sir. I know something like..”
I cut him off mid-sentence with a hard punch across the jaw, sending him tumbling backwards into the dirt.
“I don’t need your damnable prayers, sergeant! You just mind your own self and don’t waste your prayers on me, OR my mother! Save them for yourself!”
Talinon’s face flushed crimson red with anger and unspent rage. But he only sat there, rubbing his jaw and glaring up at me.
“With all due respect, SIR,” emphasizing the word with a cold sneer as he got to his feet. “You are not the only one lost of family this night. Think of the townspeople who saw their children cut down under the spear and sword. Think of the innocence of childhood lost due to the witnessing of such tragedy. I would think m’lord would be a bit more considerate of the town he failed.”
I was ready to smash this young man’s head against the nearest tree and my fists clenched tight. I glared over at him with an icy stare that would send chills through the hardest of hearts. He just stood there, his arms crossed at his chest and watched me quietly. All too ready for the coming blow. I could not bring myself to strike him, he was right, I had failed my people, my family and my sovereign. My shoulders slumped as I turned away and leaned against a tree, resting my forehead against my arm.
“Dispense with the formalities Talinon,” I said softly, staring down at the ground, “they hardly matter now. It’s just you and I out here. I have heard tales that these barbarians leave few alive in the towns they strike. Those strong enough to work are taken along as slaves, we will find no survivors tomorrow morning.”
“We should report the attack to Lord Fontelroy at first light..” Talinon offered as he glanced back towards the distant glow of the burning town. “As if he didn’t already know.”
“You would report our failure to the Lord so quickly?”, I challenged him, “Send us to the hangman’s noose in a blink? You don’t even want to find the bastard who did this?”
“Proper procedures tell us..”
I whirled around and swept my arm before me in emphasis
“Proper procedures mean little when you are already dead! If we arrive on Lord Fontelroy’s doorstep in the middle of the night and tell him we are the only survivors of a town-destroying attack and you were he, the suspicious moron he is, what would you think of you? Do you truly think he will believe us NOT to be a part of the barbarian horde?” I stepped closer to him, resting a hand on his shoulder and speaking a bit more gently.
“Not to mention being two guardsmen, let alone two OFFICERS, that deserted their posts while the others died under the flame? I’m sorry Talinon, I can not accept that. I WILL find my mother’s killers, I WILL find the bastard who burned my home town to the ground and send him to hell myself.”
The resigned sigh I got in response told me he knew I was right.
“How are we supposed to find the man, it’s like seeking a single stalk of wheat in an entire field.”
“Well, first off, we get rest. On the morrow we return to Sundberry and gather up equipment and any supplies the enemy overlooked. Then we simply head east. Simple enough eh?”
An insane grin twisted into my face, I cared very little about life or death after this night, and I would do as I planned, with or without Talinon’s help. He sighed again and took one more longing look towards the glow on the horizon. “I will take first watch Cap.. erm.. Loendal”. My name stumbled out of his mouth awkwardly, he was unaccustomed to saying it. I nodded and silently forgave his hesitation and concern. I moved back across the way and slumped down into the grass against a tree. They say one cannot sleep with eyes open, that night I proved that theory wrong.
Talinon stirred me from my contemplation as the moon reached its highest point in the smoky skies. I nodded in silence and he clasped my wrist, helping me to my feet. I took his broad sword from him. I would need a weapon, and that was all we had. I motioned to a clear spot nearby that I should have used for my own sleep and he nodded, moving towards the bare spot. I shook myself to further consciousness and looked around the area, calculating any weak points in the surrounding trees through which any foe, be them man or beast, could arrive unnoticed. I glanced back over where Talinon was already fast asleep, I noticed he was much younger then I had remembered him. His cold outward shell that I always saw around the academy was gone, replaced by the reality of a young man that shivered in the cold. So long as I had known him he never once was out of the academy. He always stayed in town, walking his patrols. A true town guard, just like those simple men I saw growing up. He did not deserve this, he wanted to live in that town till old age claimed him.
“Poor lad”, I whispered to myself.
“Poor lad indeed” answered that rumbling voice again “You will find him most helpful my son, he will be your first”
I jumped at the suddenness of the voices’ arrival within my mind and my heart began to race.
“My first what?” I thought
“Why, your first true believer of course!” answered the voices again
I was angered at this intrusion into my mind, I felt my privacy was violated. Here I was, unable to think to myself without this stranger poking his way into things.
“Why are you doing this to me!? Who are you!?” I screamed within my mind, daring the voices to answer
“I am He that created Them, and He who guides you upon your path”
“I have no path! I only want revenge on that barbarian scum. I want his head on a platter before me! I want HIS mother to watch him die as I was forced to watch my mother fall!”
“You have so much rage… So much fury.. Surely your life has not been so bad. I have watched you since the time of your birth. Waiting for such a moment in your life. You had clung so strongly to those around you that you could not even see my Truth”
“What TRUTH!? You speak in nonsense! The Truth lies in my blade, in my skills, in..”
“In yourself alone” the voices interrupted.
“Yes… In myself alone. I have no need for others! I live by my own way! You have no right to judge me!”
“If you have no use for others why are you so set upon ye mother and father’s deaths?”
“That’s different! I… Well because I.. You don’t...”
I threw up my hands in frustration, storming over to a tree. Slamming my fist into the solid trunk, I drew blood. This intruding voice was right. I couldn’t find any way around it. They were right.
“Good.. You have learned that others are needed. Does it not make sense then that others need you as well?”
“Who needs me?” I asked bluntly, sadness burning away my anger and outrage.
“I do Loendal.. We do.. All of us.”
“And who are you? Please, I beg of you, no riddles. Who are you?”
“I will be known as The Dragonlord to you and to those you will teach of me.”
“I am hardly educated M’lord Dragon. How am I to teach others?”
“One does not need education to understand peace do they? Come, walk with me and I will explain”
I felt a presence behind me, a deep, powerful something and I hesitantly turned around. I saw nothing.
“If you wish to see, you must believe that I am there. Without belief, I cannot exist. And I will simply vanish into nothingness”
Still I saw nothing, I squinted my eyes through the dark woods. Splotchy bits of pale gray moonlight sprinkled here and there through the trees, and I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Spinning around to my left I again saw nothing. A sudden painful thud on the back of my head brought me into grim reality as I fell headfirst into the dirt. I rolled on my back, just in time to catch a glimpse of the spiked club flying down towards me. The be-furred human wielding the club cursed in a language I could not understand as his club smashed into the dirt near my head, rousing Talinon awake with a frightened cry. I quickly rolled to the side and leapt up, cutting upwards into the man’s chest with my sword in both hands. I ripped the blade outwards and upwards, slashing up along his side to his back as I brought my blade to a ready position. The barbarian fell to the dirt with a gurgling cough. Another of the eastern enemies dived at me from my right, tackling me down on top of his comrade’s corpse. My blade scattered away from me as the air was forced from my lungs under the man’s weight. He raised his left hand up bringing it back down with ferocity towards my head, a curved short sword in his hand. I managed to roll to my back and catch his wrist with both hands, but the force of his strike brought his fist down at my face, smashing into my nose. Suddenly he grunted in pain as Talinon arrived and sent a mail-booted foot into his midsection, knocking him off of me. I yet clung to his wrists and rolled with him, bringing my elbow over and around to crush into the man’s head and cutting open his cheek. I sat on his belly and wrested away his sword arm. I felt a strange rush, easily double the jolt I gain from my usual battle fever and a strange orange glow seemed to surround all that I saw. I raised my right hand up by my head and noticed the look of confused shock and fear in the man’s eyes just before I brought my punch down hard into his face, over and over again. Before I even knew it, the man’s head and face was concave, smashed inwards. My hand and clothing splattered with his blood. A third barbarian soldier came diving into the campsite and our eyes met. The entire scene surrounded by the orange glow on the edges of my eyes. The look of panic in his face was most bizarre, these men are known for their bravery in battle. He took one look at me and skidded to a halt, quickly turning around and making back for the woods from whence he came. Talinon yelled a curse and snapped up his broadsword from the ground, giving chase. Shortly later I heard a wet thud in the shadows just outside my vision. I leapt to my feet as I heard hasty footsteps returning this way, I crouched down and scooped up the curved blade, every nerve on edge, watching and waiting. A shape began to form in those shadows, a shape ringed by that same orange. My muscles tensed up tight as the figure came into the moonlight; I leapt forward, covering an ungodly distance in so little time. I had no clue how I could move so quickly, but brought my blade screaming down from on high, only to have it caught upon the blade and crossbar of a broadsword and shoved aside. A firm grip on my collar yanked me forwards and to the side, tossing me into the dirt. I was back on my feet in a quick bound, blade at the ready. Talinon suddenly held up a hand and yelled “HOLD!” Sanity returned to me as I recognized the familiar face. Talinon stood there, his sword broken just above the crossbar, staring at me with a mix of fear and awe. The orange glow around him began to fade and I looked down at the broken sword blade at my feet. My reflection was not my own, but of a strange, beastly visage of a man; a man with glowing braziers of bright orange dragonfire in his eyes.
Talinon stared awestruck at me for a moment, unwilling to believe what his eyes just witnessed. He later said I acted like a man insane, yet completely in control. That blazing Dragonfire in my eyes sprung to life at the peak of my savagery, and seemed to grant me additional strength. Things were beginning to make more and more sense. This was culminating into something far greater then simple insanity. Some deeper form of purpose began to form in my mind, The Dragonlord needed me for something, that much was obvious, but who actually WAS the Dragonlord? And why his keen interests in me? And to what did he mean ‘The first of the true believers’ when speaking of Talinon.
“Si..” he stammered for a moment, “Loendal.. What was that? What happened to you?” he asked quietly, picking up his broken blade from the dirt.
“I wish I knew myself.” I responded, wiping away the blood trickling from my nostrils. “I was stronger, insanely strong, yet still in control of my senses?”
“Indeed, save for when you leapt at me. And that glow in your eyes.”
I nodded slowly, trying my best to change the subject away from that which I didn’t understand in full.
“Forgive me for that, I was unsure if that was you or that fool of a barbarian. In the pitch of battle, you can loose track of your allies quickly.” He nodded his understanding and looked between his useless hilt and shattered blade.
“Seems were defenseless now. Maybe we should get moving, do you want to head back towards Sundberry? Do you think they’ll be gone?”
I hadn’t noticed that the night had slipped away by this time, and the sun began to rise slowly in the east, casting long, chilly shadows through the forest. With this patrol in the woods, we were not sure if there might be more. The only weapons we had were the club and curved blade, neither of them were all that well made, and the balance seemed off. If we ran across another patrol, we might not be so lucky. That bizarre rage that gripped me might not arrive again. Perhaps it was a one-time event.
“If we take it slow and cautious, especially in that field out there, we should be all right. Just stay close and keep alert lad, we don’t need another surprise this morning.”
Talinon nodded quickly and grabbed the club from near that mangled corpse, shuddering as he stood up. The boy was not used to the sight of battle, he had never seen anything like it before.
“I know this is hard for you Talinon, you’re out of your element. Battle takes time to understand.”
“I understand battle well enough; but not something like that. What made such ferocity so easy to claim? You were unarmed and look what you did.” He motioned back towards the unfortunate barbarian and again to the snapped blade on the ground. “That takes more then mere battle fever.”
I wanted to tell him all I knew, it seemed right somehow, to explain it to him. But something told me he wasn’t ready yet. The voices in my head spoke softly, barely an audible whisper.
“He will be your first…”
I thought back in response,
“And if he thinks me truly insane? What good will that do this purpose you have for me?”
“Trust in me, he will understand”
I sighed and nodded, taking in a deep breath
“Talinon, do you believe in the gods?”
“I suppose so, in certain circumstances” he said as he shoved aside a low hanging branch and stepped around an interposing tree. His voice seemed calmed, happy to change the subject.
“Do you think they communicate with us?”
“Again, in certain circumstances, yes. That’s what the priests and faithful hear on…” His voice fell silent as he began to realize what I was moving towards in my questioning. It was if he already knew what I was thinking. “Come now, Loendal.. Surely you don’t believe the gods have the time to talk with you personally do you?”
“God or Demon, something speaks to me in my dreams.”
Talinon stopped dead in his tracks, slowly turning to face me. The fear was etched visibly on his face as he regarded me in the cold morning air. I matched his gaze quietly, waiting to see what response I could read from it. He hurriedly whirled around and made his way further through the trees, his pace quickening. I shook my head and followed along quietly, watching the trees for danger. Not a further word was spoken between us.
When we arrived on the outskirts of Sundberry the stench of death was all around, mingling with the wet soot and smoke the dew had fallen upon through the night. Rage built up within me as I looked around at my devastated hometown. I clenched my fist as we practically crawled our way past rows of shattered mortar and brick houses. I wanted revenge so badly I could taste it. Talinon hesitantly placed a steady hand upon my shoulder as we neared my parent’s home. Silently reminding me of his support for my grief. We heard a scraping sound from our left and tensed, huddling back against the wall of what used to be the town’s bakery. We froze as the sound grew closer and watched in horror as a mangy dog crept by, his side singed black from flames and his tail severed near the stump. In his jaws he clutched the burnt and disfigured arm of a small child. He whirled around on us and let out a low growl as he began to back away, taking his scavenged meal with him. Talinon quietly gagged and turned away, as I stood in shock. The dog turned and ran, leaving only the echoing crackle of dying flames and the pounding of our hearts. I felt Talinon shudder again and it was my turn to reassure him. I reached back and gently patted the young man’s back, it seemed to do little good, but he did turn back around and focus upon our goal as best he could. We moved out from the wall and moved towards the Academy, ever alert for signs of life. As I had assumed, there were none. We passed many of our former townsmen and women, those that dared to stand against the barbarian hordes. They were butchered and cut down, from the eldest women to the newborn babes. These fiends knew no honor, no compassion, and no exceptions. Talinon’s face grew cold and ashen, locked in a grimace of mixed rage and helplessness. There were no words to be spoken, his heart had grown cold. He wanted blood, I could read that in his eyes. He wanted sweet revenge, as did I. I grinned inwardly to myself as we arrived at the rubble of the Academy and made for the torn walls of the armory. We managed to scavenge out a pair of daggers, a long and a broad sword. The only armor there was tattered and burnt leather, useless scraps. We made ready and divided up the weaponry. I never had need for a dagger at that time, and so I gave them to Talinon and kept only the Long sword for myself. We only knew that the Barbarians came from the east, and we headed in that direction.