The plans for the day sent everyone in different directions. My options were either to attend a meeting about court the coming day with Sig and Bromm or linger in the tavern, draining the already near empty coffers.
I couldn't bear to follow through with any of those options, so I decided to go to Kellas House with the morning patrol to check in on Duncan. I didn't have enough money to make the journey so I pled my case to Sig, who obliged kindly. I wasn't the only one who was feeling it, though. Bromm leaned in and made a similar request, which made me feel a bit better about my situation.
The next morning, we were on the road before the sun had crested the East ridge beyond Hammergate. I had Silah sheathed as I approached the guard in the morning and asked to join them for the trip. A few recognized me from days passed, I spoke to the half-Orc who clearly recognized me.
"Not many travelers, these days. It'll be good to have the company." The half-Orc grumbled, "Feel free to join us."
A few looked up and marveled at Silah's form over my right shoulder, but I didn't engage. She sat superior, in the sheath behind my right hand, the campaigner looming over my left shoulder. The sight of two swords brought a scrunched look from the other guards. They were looks of incredulousness, but I didn't feel the need to prove myself.
As we walked, the guards themselves joked among each other. I even heard some jovial conversation around the fire that happened in Dowery, thinking the fools in the district were lucky the whole thing didn't burn down and a brief mention of the man who was on fire while others pointed at him and called him a vampire. I held my tongue. Their information was third hand, at best, leaving many a glaring detail out, but I had expected what happened to be little more than rumor fodder. Hearing it from them, I wouldn't have believed it either. That is, if I hadn't lived it.
I wished for Silah's company, feeling just a bit too distant from what was going on around me. But, then, I was wary. I couldn't bring her out to walk with me among these others. It was going to happen sometime, I knew, but I would rather have this secret for just a while longer. If something bad happened, I wanted to be prepared. Her being readily in sword form was my strategy.
I ended up twisting the sheath, as I had before, so that the hilt would touch the back of my neck.
I have no interest in these men's conversation.
I sighed with the thought.
"Not much I can help with there," she said with a tinkling laugh.
You can help this trip go by faster.
"Actually, I could do that," she said, "but you don't seem to be willing to be the show off."
I'm not sure what you mean by that?
"You've fed me. I can feed you, so to speak." I felt a wry grin spread wide on her face, "If you needed a mount, I could call one for you. If you needed some healing? I could do that. I can even make your next swing strike true."
All of that would have been lovely to know about 3 hours ago.
"Let's just say that each enemy's life you take—each hard earned sacrifice—I'll grant you something in return."
Well, that's splendid.
"When have you ever said splendid?" She clicked her tongue,"Your sarcasm isn't appreciated."
I swear I could see her cross her arms and glower at me. These visuals were becoming increasingly clear. Our bond had grown in both strength and clarity. In those visuals, though, she was immense, larger than life. Not the diminutive little spitfire that she was in her human form. The sense of it was daunting and I felt a twinge of genuine fear.
We reached Kellas House with the sun high in the sky. The guards moved quickly to the covered tables in the yard and sat, ordering lunch. I walked around the yard, remembering my brief moments here. Duncan was likely busy with the lunch crowd. I decided to take a seat a couple tables away from the guard and ordered an ale.
Unfortunately, there was no peace and quiet here. The crowd had spilled to the outside and had nearly filled the tables. The day was warm and the sun blazed down in a way I hadn't seen since I've been up North. The large canvas spreads that blocked the sun and rain seemed to concentrate the heat right above the tables.
I realized, as a sat, that I felt different. I thought for a moment, trying to perceive what the difference was when I realized that I was sitting a full head higher than anyone else and wasn't trying to hide my stature. I wasn't sure what had changed over this last few weeks, but being self-conscious around the smaller humans seemed to have subsided.
"What can I say? You're confident. I can only assume it is because of me," she whispered close.
I smiled.
"I assume this is Duncan?" She said.
There was a heavy clap to my shoulder. Her split-second warning disarmed any aggressive action that my mind thought to take.
"Hakaar!" He said heartily.
I stood from the table and gripped his hand and pulled him in close for a half embrace.
"That grip!" He said, then looked up at me against the backlit canvas, "And that height. I still can't get used to it. Though, I'm not sure if you're slipping or just becoming more civilized. I expected a different response from you."
"I'd say more civilized." I gave him a toothy smile.
Silah stifled a laugh.
Quiet, you.
"What brings you here? Business? Pleasure?" He had a bright smile, he was genuinely pleased to see me. He had a way of always making you feel welcome.
"A bit of both, really."
"That sounds ... interesting?" He looked me over, "Why don't you drink a bit more ale. Maybe it'll loosen that tongue of yours."
"Can you sit for a bit?" I motioned to the spot next to me.
He crinkled his nose at the noisy, crowded tables.
"How about we go inside." He said, as he turned toward the main building and flagged me along.
I picked up my ale and followed. We moved into his office, a room off the back of the kitchen area. It was likely an old supply closet at some point that he had requisitioned for his own purposes. An iron bound door with a heavy lock had been installed on the inside affording, not only privacy, but security. There was a seat in front of a half-sized desk that was custom built for the space. I sat in an armless chair across from him.
I sipped at the ale.
"So, business first, then?" He leaned forward on his desk, prepared to listen.
"I wanted to check in on you to see if you were holding up well here. There was a bad bit of business down at the Ranch. That's only just South of here. A lot of people died."
"Oh, I half expected you to try and get me over a barrel with this Shatterhammer business you and your friends were pitching." He smiled briefly, but then his eyes darkened, "Yes, it was nasty business. The Orcs were dealt with, though."
"I helped deal with the Orcs."
"Good for you." He interjected and firmly slapped the side of my shoulder.
"There's more, though. It sounds like there may be more on their way. These were strong fighters..." I trailed off, speaking about it brought back some of that darkness I had been wading through for the past two weeks.
"Yes, they seem to be being pushed North. No idea why."
"Do you think you'll need help? If they came in force like they did at the ranch, there's no telling what may happen." I spoke heavily to convey my concern.
"I could always use help around here. But, no, they won't get far if they show up here. We always have a contingent of guards moving between Dowry and Hlofreden, as you well know. That, and the travellers, some get stuck here intentionally just to swap old war stories with me. It doesn't help that I have a tendency to forgive a tab here and there. There's a lot of good company, plenty of strong-armed frontiersman ready to help."
He had a satisfied smile on his face. The respect he had gained in the military centered around this certain magnetism he had to him. Even as a stranger to this land, this magnetism continued to bring worthy people to this frontier. That magnetism was why I had been willing to travel as far as I did.
"Why weren't you this soft, say, sometime in the last year or more at around this time?" I prodded.
"War is to be fought, son. Nothing fancy about it." He said, raising an eyebrow and bringing his sternness to bear.
"So, I can't help but eye that blade there," He nodded over my right shoulder at Silah.
I grinned, but remained silent.
"Is someone going to come looking for that? Should I be worried about housing an outlaw?" He said with a half-serious wryness.
This closet of a room was barely able to contain us, let alone allow me the freedom of movement to draw her with great flourish. It was an awkward affair, half sitting, and drawing the greatsword from the sheath.
Awkwardness aside, Duncan's eyes lit up at the unfurling of the blade.
"Can I hold it?" He said, eyes tracing lovingly over the blade.
I hesitated for a moment. I had never given Silah to anyone else.
Can I?
She scoffed, "What do you think is going to happen? Am I going to run away with him?"
I shrugged at her comment unconsciously. Duncan was far more worthy of her than myself, and I wondered if she would feel that way, too. I laid the blade flat on the palms of my hands and extended it toward Duncan with some trepidation.
He took the hilt and marveled at the craftsmanship, tracing a finger down the ornate inlaid scrollwork done on the blade. He wobbled it and held it straight ahead with both hands. He wanted to swing her, but he was suffering the same constraints I was in this small room.
"Where did you get this?" He said, wonder lining his voice, "It's perfect. You are sure no one is coming back for this?"
"I know and, no, this was a hard fought treasure."
"Why are you being so vague? I swear I haven't gotten a straight answer out of you, yet." Duncan eyed me, flattened the blade on his palms, and extended them out to me.
I took Silah back and slowly sheathed her, still keeping the sheath twisted for contact.
"Duncan's a good man," She said, nodding in the silence of my mind, "Very experienced. He also cares for you very deeply. He cares for many very deeply. A man who's been a leader in war and who can still feel this way is a rare man, indeed."
I could have told you that. All of that.
"And… don't fret, dear. I am yours." Silah whispered, and I felt a hand on my cheek and saw her eyes close to mine. That immensity was still there, but the warmth in her voice put me at ease.
I had fallen silent while Silah had been speaking to me. Duncan was eyeballing me, waiting for an answer to his question. It took a moment to remember what he had asked.
"Vague, yes. I found her deep in a forgotten place." I said absently.
"Her, eh? Fitting to have a weapon be a woman. Fitting, but dangerous. Does that mean you named it?" He smiled while he pressed.
"Yes, but," I paused to take a sip of ale thinking better of unrolling the story right then and there, "I have to come back to sharpen some of my skills soon. I will give you the whole story then. The whole story and so much more. You're one of the few I can trust, after all."
Duncan raised an eyebrow.
"And you're going to leave me hanging like this? A mysterious blade with a heap of cryptic words from you? Then you say you're going to tell me sometime soon?" He rolled his eyes.
"Oh, you've done far worse to me. The stories you've told and left open out there on the battlefield." I glowered at him.
"That isn't me. I've always wrapped up my stories before we put down for the night. I think you just aren't remembering it correctly." He clasped his hands together, his elbows on the table, as he spoke.
"Believe me, I remember. But, unlike you, I will tell you all about it. But, I'd rather do it while I'm learning."
"It's up to you. I won't force you to do something you don't want to do." He put his hands flat on the table.
"Again, where were you a year ago?" I grinned.
I quickly downed the ale I had been nursing, then stood.
"I best be heading off." I said, stretching.
"But you just got here!" He said, looking hurt.
"I did what I needed to do. I came in to check in on you. See how things were."
"You came here to tease me, is what you came to do."
"Maybe a little. By the Gods, the stories I could tell." I nodded to him, which aggravated him all the more.
"Be gone, then. I'll just sit here and worry about my day to day while you go out on your adventures."
He stood, doing a shooing motion with his hand. I opened the door and nearly fell out of the converted supply closet. He moved out and locked the door behind him.
"It's been good to see you," He said, pulling me in for a full embrace, "You've been doing well for yourself, whatever it is you're doing."
I nodded, smiling. I ached. This man helped get me where I was today. It was moments like this when my appreciation for him was much too deep for me to reasonably express. We moved back outside, talking about nothing in particular. After a firm handshake, he moved back into the main building.
I looked for the change of the guard who were heading back to Dowry. This was the same group. They had finished their meals and had taken off some of their armor in order to relax. I invited myself to their table and explained my plans to come back with them. They seemed a little bemused, but didn't protest. The half-Orc spoke up, though.
"Only if you don't cause any trouble. We've got a bigger group coming with us, but you're welcome to join and keep things in line. But you're not getting paid."
"How about I buy you all an ale when we get back to Dowry." I offered.
The half-Orc gave me a crooked half smile. There were nods of agreement around the table. In business, a fine beverage works where money might not.
(Get to know Akeron.)
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