New Readers, Start Here

First of all, welcome to my blog! I’m going to try to keep as much off-topic chatter off of the main site as I can, and update hopefully a page or two a week, minimum.

This story is going to be a big one, so please keep that in mind. It could take quite a while before things feel like they’re moving very fast, but bear with me and I promise I’ll do my best to produce high-quality work on a reasonable timeframe.

The first entry  can be found here. Subsequent entries will be linked to at the bottom of the previous entry, and organized by chapters– so if you’re looking for a particular chapter, search for its number, in Roman numeral format and surrounded in parentheses, like this: (I) or (VI).

Chapter (III): Fireside Fights (Part 7)

…

Chunks of Cassius’ prize, a wild doe, roasted on a makeshift spit over the campfire. It wasn’t much meat: enough for the four of them to have as a very filling dinner, with some extra that Nico said would make for a fine breakfast before they departed in the morning. The sun overhead was gone completely, and stars glittered in a smattering of clusters that offered him some peace.

Cass chomped into the remnants of the deer, and ‘Laine flinched when he heard bones snap and meat rip. The noises disgusted him, but moreover they reminded him of watching Nico carve the better sections of the meat for themselves just a short time prior. The archer had taught both he and Eryn how to skin the creature, which Varlaine had found disgusting enough. The prince’s only experiences with raw meat involved a few wanderings into the castle’s kitchens, and it hadn’t looked anywhere close to as bloody and fresh as the deer’s.

Nico himself turned the spit carefully, with hands that had been rinsed under a canteen but were still tinted red. His shirt, a muddied and stained brown already, had a few new dark blemishes to show for their meal. The archer had convinced both Eryn and ‘Laine to cut their own portions from the carcass after he’d shown them how, and seeing the stains made the prince self-conscious enough to look down over himself. He’d been meticulously careful when he’d cut a piece, and the carving knife had been kept at arm’s length, but his effort was rewarded with clean clothes even after the cutting. The stench of bleeding flesh, though, he couldn’t drive away. He wondered if it was real, or if he was imagining it.

“I didn’t really like carving the meat,” Eryn commented. She sat near Nico, watching him turn the spit, brows creased in a grumpy and uncomfortable stare. “It made my skin crawl. That doe was alive before we came in and…”

“You get used to it,” Nico said simply. He was concentrating on his task, but even Varlaine could see he looked bored. “Not like you’ve been eating vegetables all your life up until now.”

The rider huffed, a noise that made Varlaine wince in preparation for an argument and the nearby, reclining Naz very quietly snort. “I didn’t have to cut up those animals. It isn’t the same.”

“Yeah, well, someone did. Your dinners didn’t skin themselves, city girl.”

Instead of lashing out further, Eryn went quiet. Varlaine was relieved by that; while silence on her part probably meant some amount of brooding, it was better than dragging the camp into a fight. The quiet endured long enough for Nico to become satisfied with the meat, and he took the spit off the fire, jamming it into the ground and inspecting the food.

“Naz, you eat first,” He declared. The mercenary lifted her chin from her palm, tilting her head in confusion, before she shook it in refusal. “No, you need to. The kids are young, but you’re traipsing about in armor that weighs as much as either of ‘em. You need to eat.”

It took a moment for her to accept his reasoning, but Varlaine was glad she did. “Alright. Appreciated.” She got up, carried herself forward, and took the largest chunk of meat from the several skewered on the wooden spit; then she returned to her place without a fuss, sitting and blowing cool air on the food.

“You next,” Nico gestured to Eryn, then held out the spit to her. “Ladies before men.”

Dissatisfied with that, Eryn puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. In the end, likely to alleviate any further bickering, she moved forward to accept the meal. When she sat down, she took a longer time staring at it than Varlaine had seen her deliberate over a meal. Nico stared right along with her, before shaking his head and turning to ‘Laine.

“And here’s yours, my lord.” The prince got the impression that the formal greeting was somewhat bitter, but he bowed his head appreciatively anyways.

“Thank you, very much, for the food,” He expressed. Nico shrugged it off and handed him the chunk of meat, and he took it. The food was warm in his hands, and the exterior had toughened out some, dried by the heat. It wasn’t as soft as what he’d had in town, but then, that had been cooked properly and this was a wild meal. When he bit into the food, its juicier insides, warm and fresh, sated his hunger enough that he couldn’t complain about the texture.

The group ate for a while, a quiet but bonding experience. They each had their own way to go about it, Varlaine noticed: Naz pulled pieces from the whole and placed them between her lips, while Nico tore bites from the bigger piece of meat and chewed on the jagged pieces there. Eryn, for once, seemed uneasy; she too tore off smaller chunks, but each was appreciated in a more subdued, almost unhappy way. The prince decided he’d rather eat like Naz and Eryn, so followed suit.

When all of the meal had been eaten on all parts, Eryn excused herself to care for Cassius. She said something about wanting to help wash his beak and feathers, and departed with the griffon for the stream, leaving Varlaine alone with the two adults.

Chapter (III): Fireside Fights (Part 6)

When the archer made it to their fire, Eryn had put her axe down. She traded the edge for one that accompanied a glare, eyeing up Nico as he came closer. Varlaine was unsure of what to do, so he hesitated; noticing Naz’s fingers tightening around her sword still, he kept his spellbook close.

“Could you drop the weapon?” The guardsman asked. Naz scowled at him, shaking her head tersely. “I’m here to help you.”

“Why did you follow us? Were you followed yourself?” Her questions, one after the other, were supported by a nod from ‘Laine. Eryn, too, carried herself forward. Her head cocked to the side curiously.

“I wasn’t, but you might have been.” When Nico spoke, he shrugged, downplaying the mood with a grin. “I’ve been chasing your trail and clearing it behind you for a week. Campsites, hoofprints, griffon dung—you don’t clean up after yourselves.”

Eryn frowned. “We’re in a hurry,” She excused. “No time for cleaning.”

“You gotta make time.” Nico quirked a brow at her. “If I could follow you, we can damn well bet that Alra can.”

Naz cut in by clearing her throat. “You haven’t answered me. Why did you come?” When challenged on the matter, the brunette dodged with a flop down near the fire, sitting in the patch ‘Laine had cleared for himself. She took a step closer, and he shrugged up at her once more.

“Fort Skyvlan is another week’s worth away,” He said. “By what I figure, you all are nearly down on your supplies. Didn’t exactly leave Dalren with much. Am I right?”

Varlaine looked up at Naz, whom pursed her lips for a moment in frustration. He was. They’d brought along a bag of loaves of bread, some salted meats, a bag full of fruits that had barely lasted two days, and canteens; of that, a couple of dried out bread loaves remained. That was why Cassius had been sent hunting and why they’d settled down earlier than usual.

“I thought you guys could use some help. I can hunt a little meat, I know how to carve it up just fine, and I can cover our tracks as we go,” He continued. ‘Laine had to admit, all of that sounded promising. Food, help if a fight came their way, and someone to keep… whoever was on them off their trail would all be helpful.

Naz chewed on the offer for a few moments before lowering her weapon and her voice. She took a step closer to Nicomenda, and leaned in to speak with him, quietly. “You should be getting the people of Dalren to safety.” Her raspy voice hissed.

“Look, they have a whole town’s worth of defenders if bandits turn up. You have two kids. Groups can defend themselves better than you, no matter how good your sword arm is.” Nico shot back, standing up straighter. His casual smile evaporated in a hurry, and Varlaine could see a dark line under each of his eyes, not unlike the ones sunken beneath Naz’s. Adulthood must take a heavy toll, he thought.

When Naz lacked a suitable response to that, Nico stretched and pulled his bow off his shoulders. Setting it aside, he left it in plain view as he did the same with his quiver; ‘Laine took a moment to appreciate them. While Nico himself was a little roughly cut, with his shirt untucked and messy and his hair shaggy and unkempt, the bow he carried was polished and pristine, some yellow-orange wood. Its accompanying quiver was a clean and well-built leather. While he was no craftsman, the prince had to appreciate their quality.

“So!” Nicomenda yawned. Varlaine tore his eyes away from the bow to look at him, while Eryn jumped in surprise. Naz strayed her gaze aside, towards her bag of belongings. “Where is the big beast that made it so easy to follow you, anyways?”

Eryn frowned. “His name’s Cassius. He’s out hunting for food,” She informed, a huff in her breath. “He’ll be back soon, I bet.” The way she crossed her arm over herself so she could hold the opposite shoulder left Varlaine wondering how confident she was of that fact.

“Hunting, eh? What’s a bird like him typically bring back?” Nico asked. His hand reached to his side, fumbling with something brown that hung from his belt and matched the quiver he’d set aside. “Rabbits? Some fish?”

Eryn shook her head. “Um… usually a deer, when he’d go off in the woods near home.” She answered. Nico’s brows shot up in surprise, as he undid a latch and pulled a sharp, wicked-looking carving knife from its hip holster.

“A deer. Delicious,” He grinned, looking over at Eryn and then down at the blade he held, turning it over in his hand. “When he gets back, I’m gonna teach you kids how to skin. Useful skill.” Varlaine felt his stomach churn at that thought, and Eryn didn’t look like she handled it any better. Still, the young prince nodded his head slowly in agreement. It was, after all, a useful skill.

(Part 7 is up, and can be found here!)

Chapter (III): Fireside Fights (Part 5)

The quiet gave him time to consider. The world whispered around him, air heavy with the summer insects chirping and crooning to one another, before it disappeared into a dull hum. He could hear the sound of the wood in their fire, breaking and splitting as the heat popped the dried bark, and he could hear Naz writing, and those two sounds put the rest of the world far away.

Varlaine wondered what she wrote about so often. He’d caught her scrawling notes in the book nearly every night on their journey, sometimes briefly and others for an hour or longer. Eryn’s curiosity over it disappeared quickly, but it gave him something to think about while he studied over the magic tome he had smuggled from the castle. On one occasion, he thought he heard a quiet hum while she took the evening watch, but the woman certainly did not seem the musical type. So, he had blamed the noise on the wind.

Now, he was uncertain. A scar inside her throat, not out? How could one achieve that? His first guess was outlandish: perhaps she had been a singer, once, and she’d sang too much, too strongly, and ruined her voice. It was hard to picture her as such, in all her armor and attitude, so he waved that possibility away. Whatever it was that had happened to her, she didn’t want to discuss it openly. That raised even more questions, but none of them slipped a sliver of doubt in her intent, at least not for him. Perplexed at why he trusted her so strongly, and wrestling with the conflicting thoughts of whether to try to know her better or leave the mercenary well enough alone, he wished for nothing more than something to distract him from his conundrum.

“Trouble,” Naz said, plainly, pulling him abruptly from the reflection. When he looked away from the sky and towards her, she was already rising to her feet and reaching behind her, to draw up her sword from its sheath. Varlaine shifted to see what she was referring to. At the edge of the clearing they had set up in, through the treeline, he could see Eryn, running as fast as her legs could carry her out of the forest and towards them.

Quickly, he scrambled for his spell tome, hands quickly flitting through his pack while Eryn closed the distance. By the time he found it, Naz was standing with her sword at her side, casting her eyes around and trying to evaluate what had put the griffon rider into a panic. She did not have to wait long, however, because the cyan-haired girl arrived by the fireside quickly enough, panting.

“What’s going on?” Naz asked, guarded but direct with her tone.

Eryn gasped in air, pain evident on her face. Her lungs looked to have caught fire by the way she winced when she took in a ragged breath, bent double and clutching her knees. But she managed to lift an arm and point backwards, towards the way she came. “Someone… in the forest… chasing me…”

Naz frowned and moved past the teenager, facing the woods head on. She walked with purpose, each step carrying her forward in exactly the same distance, until she stationed between the threat and the two youths behind her.

“Varlaine, don’t use your magic unless you absolutely must. Hold it as a surprise.” She shot backwards. He nodded his head in agreement, and the winded Eryn hunted around for her axe. She found it, and the trio faced the treeline to see what emerged together, braced for a fight.

Then, a figure broke through. He wore plain looking clothes, a leather plate over his chest, and had shaggy, sandy hair. He looked for all the world like a bumbling fool when he caught sight of Naz and the others, and Varlaine had to take a moment to process why the man looked so familiar, having not seen him for a week.

Nicomenda lifted his hands up in surrender, blanching as Naz didn’t lower her guard, and kept them up as he approached the group.

(Part 6 is up, and can be found here!)

Chapter (III): Fireside Fights (Part 4)

Varlaine let that comment sit for a moment, unsure of what to say. She started to look away from him and towards the fire once more, so he piped up to keep her attention, shifting his legs to sit up straighter. “I appreciate your help more than I can express, Naz.” He said. “When we get to Skyvlan, I’ll ask the lord there to compensate you more properly for your efforts.”

“If we get to Skyvlan without issues, you can consider pay. Don’t spend money you don’t have.” Naz replied. Her voice cracked near the end of her sentence and she frowned, reaching for the leather-wrapped canteen she’d drank from before and taking another hefty swig from it. She had a habit of doing so, ‘Laine had noticed.

“Are you alright?” He asked. “If you’re ill, I’ve read on a few treatments. Your throat sounds… very sore.”

Putting the drink back down, she shook her head slowly. “I’m not sick. It’s… hmm.” Naz stopped to think, for a moment. Opting not to interrupt, Varlaine tilted his head, straight silvery hair shifting as he did. “It’s a scar. Permanent.”

He pursed his lips in response, tightening them into a thin line, as he looked her over once more. Scars were something he was sure the woman had plenty of; he could see several where he sat. One curved across her cheek, from near her left ear until nearly the cleft of her chin. Two more raked down the chin itself, and now that he was staring more intently, he thought perhaps the trio held joint significance. They followed the same curvature, swooping down across her visage. Her bangs, as well: on her right side they hung down, nearly in her eye, the longest hairs tickling against her cheeks. The left, however, she kept tucked neatly behind her ear, leaving the dark lines without cover to hide behind. Surely, she had them etched across her body like paint on a canvas, or perhaps more accurately charcoal on paper.

Her brow quirked when he failed to respond in any reasonable time, and then she cleared her throat. “Is there something wrong with my face?” Naz asked, crossing one of her arms over her chest. With her armor put away for the night, she was dressed in a plain, earthen brown button-down top, the clothing she wore beneath her gear, and he was suddenly aware of how much more vulnerable she looked that way.

When he realized she was addressing him, his eyes stopped searching her and instead found her own. “N-no, I’m sorry.” He relented, trying to still his suddenly quickened heart. It took him several moments to find his normal pace again, staggering into a headshake. “I just… didn’t see a scar on your neck, is all.”

She sized him up with scrutiny, then, and he averted his eyes; it was only fair. Then both of her hands rose to her chest, and she undid the top button of her shirt, lifting her chin to show him the whole of her neck—not a single mark or mar. He supposed that was for the better; in her line of work, a neck injury probably wasn’t something that she would walk away from. After making sure he’d seen, she redid the button and placed her hands in her lap.

“It’s inside,” She said, and he tilted his head in confusion. “The scar. It’s in my throat.” When she clarified, he nodded in appreciation. While he at least understood a little better what was wrong with her voice, it only raised more questions.

“If you don’t mind me asking… how did that happen?” He’d never heard of a scar on the inside of someone’s throat. It looked to cause her enough pain that she didn’t talk more than she needed to, and when she did, it was as efficient as she could make it.

At his question, though, Naz frowned. “Another time, perhaps.” She dismissed. “It’s a long story and the road has exhausted me.” Sensing that she did not want the issue pressed, he bowed his head deeply, and let a silence fall between them. The quiet lasted longer than their talk, but he felt informed by it just as much as the conversation, as if she had trusted him with some precious secret. When she accepted his silence as consent to busy herself, she pulled the leather-bound book and robust jar of ink from her bag, setting the two out in front of her.

He watched her open the front cover, removing a quill pen, and then saw her pry the lid from her ink. By the time she’d started to write, he had shifted, to lay out in the grass on his back. His hands tucked behind his head and he looked up at the clouds shifting over their heads, peaceful and colorful with their setting sun, and listened. Listened to the fire crackle, and the soft scratch of her ink in the journal.

(Part 5 is up, and can be found here!)

Chapter (III): Fireside Fights (Part 3)

When Varlaine sat down, he allowed a few moments of silence to pass unquestioned. The sky was taking on a smooth, velvet-orange hue, which turned his head towards the treeline where Eryn had disappeared. While he was worried about her, Naz deserved something more for an apology, with her arm still exposed and her attention still turned towards it.

“I am sorry, N… ma’am.” He cut himself off before uttering her name, and she snorted through her nose in response. “Royalty bears the responsibility of their people. It wasn’t acceptable for her to lose her temper like that. When she returns, I’ll speak with her about it.”

“I wouldn’t,” Naz responded. She shrugged her right shoulder, still stretching and rubbing at her left wrist, and then finally looked up at him. “She’s tired, and hungry. I would have been, too, at her age. She’ll even out when we get to Skyvlan.”  As she spoke, her voice cracked and she turned her eyes away once more. She rest her elbow on her knee, and her chin in her hand. Nearly out of sight, her thumb rubbed against the front of her throat. “You do not need to call me ma’am. I’m not above you.”

He nodded his head slowly in response, leaning back against his palms. The road had been mostly uneventful: no danger, just a slogging and endless pace. Eryn, typically in flight, likely had it the worst; while he could garner scattered conversations with Naz on the road, she had to get lonely up in the sky. While he mused on that, another thought crossed his mind.

“Naz…” The prince started. She turned her head to face him once more, acknowledging him with just that, and he felt his resolve start to slip through his fingers like sand from one of his family’s ocean retreats.

“…yes?” When he didn’t continue, she prompted him. Sharp, gray eyes met his, auburn brows raised in question.

“We have talked on the road, you know… about the country, about politics.” Varlaine tried to direct his thoughts, offering preface before raising his question. Judging by her look, she seemed to see through it well enough. “But, if it isn’t too much, I might like to know more about… well, you.”

Naz didn’t respond immediately to his question. She lifted her head from her hand, and let the arm lay out over her lap while she considered her answer, before finally shrugging. “I don’t know there is much to tell that would interest you.” She coughed. Turning her gaze away from him, she reached to a bag further from the fire, and rummaged within.

“Still, I would like to get to know you better.” When she wasn’t watching, he felt his resolve swell, determination stoking in the pit of his chest. Naz was strong, and intimidating, but not scary. “So far all I know is that you were born in Lor’tsun, and that you are a mercenary. That… isn’t a lot to go on between friends, is it?”

“Friends?” She turned back to him, this time with a canteen in hand. Watching him, she opened the stopper and drank from it deeply, swallowing and then wiping her lips with two fingers. When she spoke again, her voice was clearer, and he could detect wariness under the rough, scratchy tone. “I do not know what more you could want.”

“I am curious as to why you decided to escort us—Eryn and I—southward.” Varlaine continued. “Especially now that things are looking more dangerous. We have at least one Alra after us, and, for all we know, the rest of my brother’s men. Aren’t you… discouraged?”

Naz laughed, once. It was a simple, almost musical sound, and it was almost perfect, save for a small crack near its tail. “First, tell me.” She prompted, sitting up straighter and crossing her legs. He responded in kind, noting her posture change. “If you found a dirty, scared child alone on the road, what would you do?”

Perplexed, ‘Laine shifted. He had to think about it for a moment. What would he do? “I’d… try to take them to their parents.”

“And what if their parents were gone? Perhaps dead, or otherwise missing?”

The question spurred further thought, and he narrowed his brow to consider it. “I would take them somewhere safe. A town, or a relative, to a guard station.”

“Even now? When you have enough on your mind to… ‘discourage’ you?” Her jaw set in a line, and she leaned forward, closer to the fire.

“My struggles shouldn’t stop me from trying to assist others with theirs. I don’t think I could stomach… leaving a child alone to the world.”

Naz nodded, slow and careful, but said nothing. She did watch him, though, and then what he had said sank in. His cheeks were warmed by more than the fire, and he cast his look away from her, feeling quite the fool.

“You think me the child.” He stated. She lifted her head, and he could see the faint traces of a smile on her lips. “That’s… mmh.”

Naz shook her head, slowly. “To me, it isn’t about your age. If I left you there, you would have died.” She answered. “You needed my help. I’m giving it.”

“Strange for a sellsword, helping anyone who needs it. That seems more work for a guard or a knight.” He commented, still avoiding her eye. Writing off his age had staved off the worst of his embarrassment, but it didn’t make him feel any less powerless.

She snorted, a breath escaping her nostrils, before leaning back against the bag she’d dragged closer. “I knew what your answer was when I asked,” Naz said. “You would help the child. I could tell that much when I met you. That is enough reason to lend my sword.”

(Part 4 is up, and can be found here!)

Chapter (III): Fireside Fights (Part 2)

Varlaine bowed his head deeply in appreciation, but out of the corner of his eye he could see that Eryn had crossed her arms in frustration. When Naz caught sight of her foot tapping, the mercenary furrowed her brow and let her smile slip away so she could turn and face her with a more neutral expression.

“…Your turn,” Naz said, after a moment of evaluating Eryn’s posture. Varlaine could see it, too: Frustration, unbridled and harsh, boiled under Eryn’s skin. True, they’d not had an easy time since leaving the small, smoldering village of Dalren. Naz drove the trio hard, with little time to chatter on the road and breaks spent either training or preparing for their meeting with the noble at Fort Skyvlan. He understood why; the wolf Alra that had nearly run him down still frightened him. If his brother, the standing king, had hunters like him on their tail, he feared even slight delays could get them caught.

By the time he pulled himself from those thoughts, Naz had taken her sword up and held it in front of her with one hand, the other resting on her hip. That was a stance he was more familiar with. While it was slightly off, and she turned her attacking arm more to face Eryn while her defensive hand was behind her, it was much closer to the style Revengardian knights were trained in. Her experience, and the flexibility of her swordsmanship, interested him. She must have been very well traveled.

“I’m waiting for you,” Eryn spoke out. Her tone was sharp, and she held her branch in both hands, out to her side like she carried her axe. Naz gave her a brief nod of acknowledgement, and then took two steps to close the gap. Two quick, simple steps, and then the mercenary delivered an overhead swing that was too short to connect, too far. Varlaine could see it missing before it did, and so could Eryn. Instead of moving back or trying to block it, the rider pulled her own weapon back farther, body twisting, building up.

Naz stopped the swing halfway to thrust the weapon forward, like a rapier. Her style change caught Varlaine off-guard, but Eryn was already prepared for it, a glare on the blue-haired girl’s face. She whipped her branch horizontally, the air singing as it sliced through, before there was a loud thwack of wood on wood as she struck hard against Naz’s.

If Varlaine had surprised her, Eryn’s strike inspired nothing short of shock. One handed, Naz’s fingers abandoned the weapon, hand recoiling as if bitten. It flung several feet away, landing in the grass near their campfire, but Eryn wasn’t satisfied with just disarming her opponent. Following the momentum through, she turned on her heel and swung the stick with her, spinning a full circle and bringing it around once more. Lacking any better option, Naz used her left forearm to block the strike, and the wood smashed into the back of her wrist hard enough to splinter.

Still clutching the remnants of her switch, Eryn nearly doubled over to pant as she caught her breath. Her brows were still knitted in a firm glare, lips tightened down on whatever she wanted to say, especially when she met Naz’s eye—and caught a stony gray stare back in return. The older woman opened her mouth to speak.

“What was—“

“I’m going for a walk.” Eryn cut her off abruptly, tossing the remnants of her stick aside. She turned around, hands shoving into the pockets of her cloth pants, and started to walk away. Varlaine blinked in shock at what had transpired, while Naz stared after the rider for a long, awkward moment. Then she shook her head silently, braid swaying behind her, and turned her attention to the arm that had been struck.

“I’m… I’m sorry for her behavior.” ‘Laine ducked his head. It was his guard who had lost her temper, after all, who was now trekking further and further away from the pair and closer to the ring of trees that surrounded their campsite.

Naz took a moment to roll her sleeve back and investigate her arm before she responded. “Everyone is tense,” She excused in her usual, scratchy tone, coughing and turning her arm over, flexing fingers. Even from his distance, the prince could see the sizeable red mark on the tanner woman’s forearm. It was going to bruise, painfully. “Training is finished for the night.”

He nodded, slowly, and watched as she rubbed two fingertips tenderly against the mark. With nothing between them, she moved towards the fireside, using her uninjured hand to hold the ground. Carefully, with a quiet grunt of exertion, she lowered herself to sit beside it. When she was settled, he played with the branch still in his hand, before setting it down neatly in the grass to go and sit on the other end of the fire.

(Part 3 is up, and can be found here!)

Chapter (III): Fireside Fights (Part 1)

The branch in Varlaine’s hands rattled and shook, sending up a vibration that tingled through his palms and nearly convinced him to drop it outright. He winced at the feeling, but steeled his grip; Naz, who had just struck at it with one of her own, offered a nod of approval in return. She stepped back, lowering her arms, and evaluated his stance.

“Not bad.” Her voice cracked, as usual, and ‘Laine couldn’t help but liken it to the noise of the warm campfire he and Eryn had successfully built nearby. “Turn into your parry more. Don’t just stop the attack, deflect it. Create an opening.”

Eryn was standing near him, her own switch of wood gnarly and thick, heavier than Varlaine’s. The practice session had already been going longer than any Naz had provided in the week since departing Dalren. Even the older woman was starting to sweat with exertion, but she still had not had enough; no, her eyes turned to Eryn, fingers tightening around her branch again as she brought it up in a stance that paralleled the blade to the ground and pointed the tip at the rider.

“Your turn,” Naz instructed, rolling her head and neck to stretch them but keeping the stick trained on Eryn. “Show me your stance.” The trainee put off an air of boredom, looking skyward, perhaps hoping that Cassius would soon return with food. The griffon had been sent to hunt some hour or so prior.

“I really don’t think I need to.” When Eryn responded, it wasn’t directly to Naz’s face. She spoke first to the sky, and then her head turned to look at Varlaine. “Can we stop? My arms are tired and all of this is stuff we covered in the basics.”

When Naz spoke, she barely masked the annoyance in her voice. “We will stop when I think you can both successfully defend yourselves. Ready yourself, Eryn.” Still in a stance, Naz took a step to circle the blue-haired griffon rider, who was still watching the prince. Varlaine shrugged, and she rolled her eyes before lifting her own branch to block.

This time, Naz moved differently. Her strike on Varlaine had been easy to read, enough that he managed to see where it was coming from and shift sides to block it with time enough to spare. The way she approached Eryn, though, left her ‘sword’ in the air and pointed straight, as if she was going for a thrust until the last possible moment. Before Naz took the step that would commit to that strike, she shifted her hands and swept the stick around horizontally.

Eryn, who had prepared to block the stab using an overhead chop, stumbled off balance when she saw the branch instead aiming for her side. Even Varlaine could see how clumsy and sloppy her block became when she abruptly switched gears, body drawing away and arms turning into Naz’s strike. Wood struck wood with a loud crack, and Eryn’s makeshift weapon flew from her hands while the young woman yelped and jerked her hands away on reflex, shaking them out.

“That wasn’t fair,” Eryn protested. She put her hands on her hips and glared at Naz, who stared back unamused. “You went way easier on the prince.”

“Fair? You took on military training. I should hope you handle yourself better than a novice. You’re supposed to be his guard.” Naz shot back. “Pick up your weapon. Once more, the both of you.” A pause broke her speech, then, and she cleared her throat. “We’ll make it our last for the day. Varlaine, you first.”

She took up her weapon in the same stance she’d used to strike at Eryn, and turned her attention to the young silver haired boy. ‘Laine took a moment to appreciate the way she stood, weapon held high instead of at her side or in front of her, the way he typically saw Revengardian soldiers carry theirs. Perhaps it was a token of her homeland.

Breaking himself from his thoughts, the prince nodded to confirm that he was ready. Naz returned the gesture, and then moved forward to close the gap between them. He watched her hands, the way they tensed and shifted as she drew closer to him, and brought his branch up and to the side in advance. Once he was watching for it, he could see that she moved her weight to the side and carried herself a half step off kilter when she went for a feint. When her stick swung in from his left, he brought his in to meet it. While his arms moved, his left foot pushed out, forward, to throw more momentum behind the block. When his weapon slapped against Naz’s, it hit hard enough to quake the branch in his hand, but he was ready for it with a grip that whitened his knuckles and made his hands ache.

Surprised, Naz let her strike glance off with relative ease. She caught her balance quickly, and a smile graced her lips in a way that made it harder to concentrate on the jagged scars that marred her face. Varlaine briefly wondered why she did not smile more, when it was so eye-catching, but he lacked time to think about it when Eryn was simmering at him and Naz was stepping back, lips curling down to a more tame approval. “…Well done!” She praised, after a moment, some tiny amount of excitement in her voice.

(Part 2 is up, and can be found here!)

Chapter (II): The Road South (Part 10) (FINAL)

“It’s time to get up, prince.” When Eryn shook him awake, Varlaine sighed and brought one arm up to shield his eyes. Warily, he blinked them open; through the sleep, he could see a dim gray light filtering in through the window. Eryn sat back on her bed when he did, her bright orange garb done away with and replaced with a more common, muddy brown set of clothes. While he was busy crawling out from his blankets, she slipped her gray chestplate over her head. “Didja sleep well?”

“Yes, very.” He nodded his assent, and the blue-haired trainee smiled in return. She gestured to the bedside table, which held a pair of wooden plates: one empty, and one with a light meal of buttered bread and an apple. “It’s only been a night of rest and already, I will miss the bed. Did Naz come by?”

Eryn tied her armor off at her sides, one then the other, cinching it into place around her torso. “She did. There are clothes for you by the door, she said they should fit, and a bag of essentials.” It was silent for a moment, while the prince ate at his breakfast and Eryn slipped her hands into her wristguards. “She seems… friendly.”

While Varlaine wasn’t sure he would use that term, he nodded and finished chewing his bite of apple. Swallowing, he gave the older teen the best smile he could manage, putting back thoughts of the road ahead, of the trials they’d face. She tried to return it, he could tell she truly was trying, but then she stood and stretched her arms over her head. “Anyways. I’m going to go check on Cass, make sure he’s ready to fly. Don’t mess around too long, or Naz will come nag at you.”

‘Laine put his bare feet on the cold floor about when she was turning her back to him, and by the time he collected the bundle of clothes left sitting by the door, the rider had already disappeared down the hall. He laid the articles out over the bed—a white shirt, brown cloth pants, a lightweight traveling cloak, and a patched set of leather walking boots with thick socks—and sighed. At least he would cease to look like a royal target.

…

The sun was starting to drag itself over the horizon by the time he was dressed and exiting the inn. Biting into the apple he held in his palm, the prince was surprised at the tang it left in his mouth compared to the pure, sweet taste he’d grown accustomed to. While he was musing over that, a hand clapped him on the shoulder, inspiring a jump of surprise.

“There you are, kiddo.” Nico’s voice. Of course. Varlaine turned himself around to look up at the older man, and found exhausted green eyes appraising right back. “You’re running late. Naz already has the saddles packed and ready to go.”

“Sorry,” ‘Laine began to apologize, but Nico was already turning his gaze away from him to glance about. The town was surprisingly mobile, despite the hour. People bustled with bags, with boxes, with carts. They seemed to walk with a certain spring to their step that they’d lacked when he and Eryn had first come to town. “Where is she?”

“By the entrance. Good luck getting to talk to her, though.” Powerful fingers squeezed his shoulder and then released, and then Nico was hastily moving to help a woman who was struggling to drag a cart full of clothing. Left alone, Varlaine stood for a moment before realizing that he was in charge of his own direction. That in mind, he started off towards the gate he’d passed through just the previous day, alone.

When he arrived, he understood what Nico had meant. A throng of people surrounded Naz, whom was speaking to an older man while the pair of children from the previous day hung onto one of her hands. Though she was conversing quite intently with the gentleman, enough that her empty hand continually rubbed at a sore throat, she spared glances down on occasion to work her fingers in the grips of the little ones.

Eryn was behind her with a pair of kitted horses, already on Cassius and looking as uncomfortable and impatient as she could manage. A guilt settled in the pit of Laine’s stomach. It was his fault that she was dragged out here, and it was his fault that she couldn’t go home. So, it was his responsibility to her that urged him forward, sifting through the crowd and clambering on the steed he’d escaped the castle with, unbidden. Naz shot him a look of approval, which he briefly acknowledged with a turn of his head, before focusing his attention on Eryn.

“Are you certain you’re still okay with this?” He asked her, quietly. The birds were starting to wake around them, and the light was growing, a soothing orange glow that cast on the pair. Eryn slipped her fingers into Cassius’ neck feathers, petting at the griffon, before she responded.

“I’m going to get you to safety, Varlaine.” Her answer was resolute, and though she had to be just as tired as he was, her chin lifted with an almost arrogant pride in her words. “You’re my friend, and I’m not going to leave you to the wolves. Literally, apparently.” A snort freed itself from her nostrils when she joked, and he met it with a grin. If she could tell a joke, things couldn’t be all that bad.

“Thanks, Eryn. I don’t know where I’d be without you.” He tried to show his appreciation in his voice, and she appeared to accept it with a brief thumbs-up, laying forward to rest her cheek in Cassius’ soft feathers.

That handled, ‘Laine took the reins to his horse, turning back to look at Naz. The man she was talking to seemed to be mostly nodding his head in response to the mercenary’s hushed words, until the two went silent for a short while, looking straight at one another. She bowed her head deeply, and he reciprocated, before she knelt to offer the two kids who had clung onto her a hug. One in each arm, she squeezed the pair in turn, before standing up and ruffling their hair. One of the pair, the boy, was crying. The other reached out to hug him, while Naz turned away and moved to the larger horse waiting near ‘Laine.

“Are you two ready to leave?” She asked, voice scratchy and dry. Frowning, Naz reached to her saddlebags, fingers brushing past the sword that was strapped into place there to pick up a metal water flask that hung next to a much larger jug.

Varlaine wanted to ask her the same question, noting the shadow that hung beneath her eyes. She denied him by popping open the flask and drinking heavily, cutting off any response she could have given. “I’m ready.” He finally gave.

“Let’s get this show on the road,” Eryn waved a hand. Naz took it as an acceptance and lifted her reins up, drawing them tight and spurring her horse along. Varlaine let her get a short distance ahead, partially because he wanted to cast a glance back at the townspeople who had gathered to see Naz off.

The two children had been collected by their mother, who knelt down and held the pair close to her chest. A few other men and women waved goodbye, while still others broke away from the crowd to carry about their business, gathering up bags and boxes and carrying them off. Nicomenda stood off to one side, and the barmaid from the inn had her face buried in his chest while the archer wrapped arms around the girl. ‘Laine watched him for the longest, before Eryn called back to him as Cassius tramped after Naz’s horse.

Offering Nico a short wave, he received a tired grin for his trouble. Then Varlaine dug his heels in against his horse’s sides, careful not to push too hard, and the beast started off after his companions. The sun, off to their left, had begun to light the world; laid out in front of them was the road south, towards Skyvlan, and perhaps respite.

[CHAPTER END]

(The first part of chapter 3 is up now, and can be found here!)

Mock Cover Art

Hey, everyone! I decided this week to do something a little nonstandard for this place and post a little bit of artwork. A friend of mine, whose work you can find here (WARNING: Some content is NSFW!) drew up some art for the story. I wanted something to use as a basic cover art concept, and he worked with me to turn it into something I could use for a custom phone case.

I ordered through a custom phone case service, and got my case in recently. I made a few edits, but here’s the final version:

In case you were wondering over the names on the cover, they’re the three people who have contributed majorly to this story. The first is my own, the second is my wife, and the third is a close friend of mine. The three of us originated Erda as a joint writing project, and while that’s still ongoing, I took it upon myself to refine and rewrite the story for a more cohesive, reader-friendly experience.

I hope you enjoyed the update, and the art. I’m really fond of the way Naz is sitting and writing after a battle, and I think the color tones (red and blue mixing together) look stellar. Please do check out my friend’s work, he recently opened commissions and he’s a great artist.

Chapter (II): The Road South (Part 9)

Taking advantage of the silence, Varlaine worked his way through the food given to him, making sure never to take more than half of each portion. The chicken was heaven on his tongue, a finer taste than anything he’d ever had at his father’s table and more filling besides, and the bread had a dull warmth to it that soothed him from the inside out. The corn, he nibbled at; it was dry, and lacked the salt and butter that he was used to, but he appreciated the weight in his belly all the same.

When he’d finished his carefully measured bites, two fifths of every treat, he flicked a glance to the sleeping Eryn. Hunger panged at his stomach once more, and he let his eyes roam over the remnants on the plate. Biting his teeth together, the prince carefully nudged Eryn awake instead; when she stirred, he took one of her hands and placed the dish in it.

“What’s this?” She yawned, under her breath, eyes blinking awake with a bleariness that he found endearing.

“Dinner,” He answered in a whisper, which had her snapping to more attention. Holding the plate steady with one hand, Eryn immediately set in on the chicken. In barely the time it had taken him to prod at the cob of corn, she scarfed down the whole pile of meat—then she plucked up the remnants of the bread loaf and tore into that, too. Her intensity attracted Naz’s attention, the mercenary stopping to drink from the water Nico left behind before turning in her seat to face them.

“Don’t get too excited, you two.” She stood and stretched her arms, and Eryn looked up at her with both hands on the cob. “Finish your food, get a drink, and then I’ll see you to bed. We have an early start.”

Varlaine only bowed his head in response, but Eryn tilted hers in confusion. “Whaddaya mean?” She got out around a full mouth, before swallowing it down and coughing. Naz closed the distance between them and offered her the jug, and Eryn nearly spilled what was left of the plate on herself in her haste to accept. After a heavy gulp, she set it aside and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Early start?”

Naz stooped down to pick up the plate Eryn put to the side and offered it back to Varlaine. He took it, picking up the scrap of bread that was left and rubbing it against what was left of the chicken, trying to pick some of it up. “I promised I’d escort you south,” the merc reminded, “And we’re going in the morning. Don’t fret over supplies. They are packed already.”

Eryn blinked in surprise, and even Varlaine had to admit while polishing off the plate, that sounded almost too good to be true. She had already gone above and beyond for them. Nico was right, why didn’t she just point them south and send them on their way?

“Um… thanks, I guess.” Eryn, ever graceful, dismissed the comment with a handwave. Naz offered her a hand to her feet, which the rider refused, placing her palm on the wall behind her instead and rising on her own. One of Naz’s scarred lips twitched briefly, before she extended that hand instead to Varlaine. The prince took it and pulled himself to his feet, offering her the plate. She set it on a nearby table as carefully as she could, to avoid making any noise.

“Are you two ready for bed?” The older woman asked.

“Yes,” Varlaine agreed. Eryn studied his face for a moment, before shaking her head.

“I’ve gotta feed Cassius,” She informed.

Naz swayed her head, left to right. “He’s already eaten, and been taken to a stable with… Varlaine’s horse.” She answered, watching her words. “You two only need to worry about resting, for now.”

After giving her a dirty, interrogating look, Eryn shrugged. “Fine, if you say so. He better be in good shape.” She grumbled. “Where are we sleeping, anyways?”

“There’s a room with two beds upstairs.” Naz answered. She reached down to the foot of the table she’d been sitting at, scooping up her bag and tossing it over her shoulder. Then she took her gauntlet from the tabletop, holding it in hand. “Follow me.” When they were ready, she turned around and led the pair to the far wall of the tavern, where a staircase led up a floor. On their way, Varlaine stopped for a moment to look through an open door, into a pantry behind the bar’s counter. Briefly, he caught a flash of Nicomenda with his arms around the blonde-haired bar worker in a firm embrace, before Eryn tugged him by the arm to keep up.

***

The room Naz guided them to was barely big enough for the two beds that it held, along with a short table between them and a window above that that let in moonlight. The beds themselves were small, smaller than Varlaine had slept in when he was half his age now, but his eyes felt so heavy that the stained pillow he eventually rest his head on was almost enough to put him under on contact.

Eryn climbed into her bed and rolled over, facing away from him, while Naz stood near the door and watched the pair climb in. The rider pulled her patchy quilt over herself tightly, while Laine laid under his for a moment and looked up at the ceiling, letting the day’s events slip through his mind and recounting what all had happened. After a silent moment of overwhelm, he was startled when a red head of hair entered his vision, and strong hands took care in tucking his blanket in around him.

The stream of consciousness that was trickling down his brain dammed itself when he felt the older mercenary bundling him up. He was a prince, yes, but it had been many years since someone had tucked him into bed. When they moved away, one of his own reached out from the blanket and grasped Naz by the wrist. She stopped and looked at his hand, then at him, standing in front of the window between the two beds. Her armored glove sat on the bedside table to her right, set to the side.

“Can you stay? Just a little while?” He asked, very quietly, as his fingers released her. “Until I fall asleep.”

She deliberated for a moment in her answer, and immediately guilt balled in his stomach. She’d already done so much for him, for them. Certainly, she had more important things she needed to handle, and rest that she needed to get herself. Before he could dismiss his own request, Naz nodded her head slowly.

“Just for a while,” She responded simply. Her bag was placed on the floor, and then she sat against the bedside table. Varlaine watched her reach into her pack and pull out a hardy looking jar of ink, bundled in a cloth, and then a leather-bound book. From the inside cover of the book, she pulled a feather pen.

Slipping her remaining glove off, Naz pulled the stopper from the ink and put the bottle on the floor beside her. She had to prop the book up on her knees to get any of the windowed moonlight to shine on it, but she managed well enough. The mercenary held it there, then dipped the pen in the inkwell. She wiped the edges off on the rag the bottle had been in, already stained with months of black streaks. Then she pressed the pen to the page and began to write, in a long, flowing script. Varlaine scooted up on his pillow to read it over her shoulder. She didn’t seem to notice.

‘Fifth of Lune, 1227.’ She scrawled the date at the top. ‘Returned to Dalren with the Revengardians safe and sound. Pressed the townsfolk to move west; I fear any delay could lead to a painful end to their story. I hope that when I leave them in the morn, they will possess the strength to make it to Kelvrir without me.’

Varlaine watched her write, listening to the soft scratch of pen on paper. The mat under him grew more and more comfortable, and his eyelids only heavier.

‘Nicomenda informed me that the boy, Varlaine, was beset by a wolf Alra who was hunting his trail. Varlaine appears fine, but I have my worries.’ Naz tapped her pen a few times at the paper in thought, before continuing. ‘I will keep an eye on him as we travel. If his seekers have Alra on us, there will be a need for nightguards and haste, as much as I can inspire in the pair. The girl is going to give me trouble…’

The words on the page were blurring together, enough that Varlaine questioned a line he read after going over it twice with blurring eyes. Finally, he let them fall closed, and closed they stayed.

(Part 10, the finale to chapter 2, is up, and can be found here!)