Aurix the Bold

The road into Midian became more and more crowded as they neared. Then all at once, they rounded a wooded bend and the city came into view. It was walled with tall, straight logs cut to uneven heights and sharp points. Aurix guessed the shortest was twice as tall as his uncle, the highest, yet another Brill besides. They seemed to be staggered randomly, but Aurix figured they’d provide archers with good protection and an excellent vantage point from which to rain their arrows down on the enemy in the event of a siege. There were a number of holes in the logs near their peaks and even a few broken arrow shafts left behind from past assaults. In several places, smoke rolled over the top of the barricade and through small gaps between the wood logs. Smells that made Aurix’s stomach rumble drifted on the wind with it.

It took nearly an arc for them to make it to the gate, but once inside they were able to travel much more freely. Aurix, having come from the north, had never been to Midian. The market in Terra was a day’s ride nearer, and his uncle—and parents before—knew the merchants and many of the townsfolk there. By comparison, Midian was huge. Aurix’s eyes roamed in awe, wandering from the dozens of wood and thatch buildings, to an endless myriad of vendors that lined the walls leading into the depths of the city.

“Help me down,” Shlee said.

Aurix did so absently, his eyes drifting over the constant bustle of the town. “Wow.”

“Wait until you see Glynn. Midian is tiny by comparison.”

Aurix couldn’t imagine.

Shlee walked them toward the south wall past curtains of people. Most paid them no mind, but those that did looked upon the trio with mild curiosity. A few of the shopkeepers they passed fixed greedy eyes on Nyx and her shiny black fur.

By now, Aurix’s mouth was watering. The smells of roasting meat and baking breads were making him ravenous. Apparently, Shlee felt the same. He rummaged in one of the bags draped over Nyx’s back and pulled out a few dyne. He held out two of the small coins to the vendor and pointed at a spit of turning, blackened flesh. The vendor had a soot-blackened face and prodigious belly that suggested he ate a fair portion of his wares. Aurix thought he was probably two of his aunt wide—no small feat.

The man gave a smile with fewer teeth in it than Shlee’s. He flashed a monstrous knife that glinted in Shura’s light and carved off two generous hunks with practiced ease. He wrapped them in massive pooja leaves and handed them to Shlee, who thanked him and slipped the meat into his ruck.

They moved on to the next stall where a dozen or more loaves of various breads were displayed. He dropped another coin into the flour-covered hand of a pretty young woman with hair the color of flame and asked for a honeysuckle loaf. She handed it over to him and blushed when Shlee took her by the hand and kissed the inside of her wrist with his ancient lips. She smacked his hand playfully and told him he was a sly old flirt, to which Shlee cackled merrily. It was a sociable and gregarious side of him Aurix had certainly never seen. He seemed to be more at home here among the vast, writhing crowds than he ever did in the tiny, quiet town of Dren. Here, he seemed to dissolve naturally into the bustle. If anything, Aurix was much more the outcast in such a place.

Children laughed and raced around the buildings and vendor stalls. The adults were much more reserved; deep lines of worry seemed carved into their faces. Aurix noted that many of the shopkeepers and vendors were dressed in clothes that weren’t even as nice as his own.

The clang of hammers rang on the air from a number of smith’s shops, which made Aurix think of his uncle. It was right about the time that they should be arriving back in Dren, had they made the promised journey to Terra. His stomach ached with guilt about his part in the deception and the worry he knew he would cause Brill and Jilly. They probably wouldn’t be overly concerned until nightfall, but by morning they’d be in a panic. He frowned, feeling guilty. He wished he could have been honest with his aunt and uncle, but there was no way that they’d have ever allowed him to leave if they’d known the truth. Nonetheless, he wished there were a way that he could let them know he was okay and convince them not to worry or go looking for him.

Shlee guided them toward the east most wall of the town. A significant portion of it was taken up by a large inn and stable. “Stay here,” he said. “And talk to no one.”

Aurix nodded, engrossed by the buzz of activity moving around them. Street performers and beggars—some no older than he—lined the corners by the throughways, hoping for spare coin. Most of them went ignored by the passing throngs. A girl looked his way and gave him a shy wave and a smile. He looked away so that she couldn’t see the blush rise to his cheeks.

Of all the things Aurix noticed, the noise was the most obvious. It was loud here. Hundreds of voices blended together into a continuous dull roar like the constant sound of a raging river rolling over rock. He couldn’t even imagine what Glynn would sound like if it was as big as Shlee said. On one hand, it made him long for the quiet of Dren. On the other, it was hard not to get caught up in the commotion. It was strangely exhilarating and made his skin tingle with anticipation.

Shod caples clopped along, sending small puffs of dust up with each step. Aurix saw half a dozen other braka, their light coats dirty from travel. Their owners all looked at Nyx with wide eyes. Aurix knew she was uncommon, but the stares and looks she got made him wonder if she was more rare than he’d known. People pointed and muttered to those with them. One man tripped over the feet of another as he turned back to gawk. A small scuffle broke out, but was broken up before it amounted to much by a city guard in plate armor that gleamed orange in the mingled midday light of the two suns.

Shlee returned and considered Aurix with a grin. “Nothing like Terra, eh?”

Aurix shook his head in amazement.

“Midian is a crossroads. From here, one can go anywhere. Terra supplies only the northern villages, and those aren’t much bigger than Dren. Midian provides for travelers from all over Valeria.”

Aurix shook his head again.

“Grab your beastie, whelp. She’ll stay in the stable overnight. We have a room inside.”

“Will she be safe? I’m afraid someone will bribe the stablehand and steal her. People have been staring ever since we arrived.”

“She’ll be fine. The inn can’t afford to lose its customer’s steeds or no one will board here.”

Aurix guided Nyx to the stable, but was still dubious until he saw the stable master. The man was massive. His leather armor strained against his muscles and squeaked in protest when he moved. A large pike was in his hand, capped with a silver blade. He tilted his head at Shlee and made room for them to pass. A groom made a fuss over Nyx and guided them to a roomy stall stocked with plenty of water and food. Once she was comfortably settled, Shlee spoke with the colossus about Aurix’s concerns.

The stable master nodded, though Aurix wasn’t sure how. The man didn’t seem to have a neck. His voice rumbled like thunder rolling across a barren plain. “If she’s not here in the morning, it will mean I did not survive the night.”

Aurix didn’t think that was terribly likely and felt better.

Shlee explained that the inn was the largest and most comfortable of the four in Midian. Aurix assumed that it must also be the most expensive, and wondered where the old man got all of his dyne. He certainly hadn’t earned it in his time in Dren, but with nearly four centuries to amass it, and the way he spent it with abandon, Aurix had to assume he had plenty.

Their third-floor room was indeed agreeable. A half wooden wall separated two fluffy beds, allowing each of them to have their privacy. A wide window opened on the eastern horizon, which was visible above the wall, so Shlee could observe his unusual morning ritual without striding naked through the town at dawn.

Shlee ripped a large hunk from the honeysuckle bread and set the rest down on a small table. He took the pooja leaves stuffed with wister meat from his ruck and handed them to Aurix. “Yours,” he said. “Eat.”

Aurix was more than a little shocked. He’d never eaten as much meat in an entire month. “What about you?”

“Ha! I can’t eat that, whelp.” He grinned and pointed to the large gaps between his few remaining teeth. Instead, he gummed the honeysuckle bread.

“Thank you, Shlee, but I can’t eat all of this.”

Unconcerned, the old man shrugged, and said, “No matter. It will keep,” through a mouthful of slimy dough. “Good bread, too. Have some.”

A porter delivered a pitcher of honeymilk to their room a few minutes later, and the two ate and drank their fill. Aurix barely made his way through a quarter of the delicious hunks of seared meat before he was full. It was the best meal he could recall having since his mother had last cooked for him and his father. As much as he appreciated his Aunt Jilly and Uncle Brill neither were geniuses in the kitchen (though admittedly both were better than he with barrochi eggs). And though he tried to be helpful, he was a hopeless cook.

“What’s next?” Aurix asked, using his fingernail to dig a hunk of wister meat from between his teeth.

“There are questions that need answers before I can say for sure. You can rest here while I go find my friends.”

“I can’t go with you?”

“Not for this. If you think you can stay out of trouble and keep safe, you can wander the town. Steer clear of Xu’ul’s Aegis. The guards are not friendly. And be back before darkfall. Bad things are known to happen here under torch and starglow.”

Aurix was excited to see the rest of the town. “All right!”

“I mean it, whelp. It can be dangerous. There are all kinds of unsavory characters in this world that you know nothing about. Nor would you want to. You’ve taken on a responsibility for the people of Valeria now. You cannot allow yourself to fail.”

For the first time, Aurix felt the full weight of his obligation. It made him weary to think about the full scale of what he was doing. But he remained undeterred. “I understand,” he said. And he did.

Shlee slung his ruck over his shoulder, but not before putting a few dyne in Aurix’s hand.

“Shlee, I can’t take this.”

“Of course you can,” Shlee said when he reached the door. “It’s yours after all.” He was gone before Aurix, utterly confused, could ask what he meant.

Aurix went out into the late afternova with a full stomach and reeling mind. It made no sense to him that he had a claim to any money whatsoever. And that Shlee would have it made even less sense still. When the old man had told him there were things he did not yet know, he hadn’t been kidding. Aurix was starting to feel like just one small wheel of a vast machine. And though it was his choice to be a part of that machine, it was turning him whether he liked it or not, and far faster than he ever would have expected.

Nova was falling, its part in the day nearly done. Aurix would have a few arcs to explore, but he had a mission first. He waited for a break in the near constant flow of bodies and beasts in front of the inn, and darted across the road. He walked to the corner of one of the alleys where the beggars gathered and withdrew the pooja leaf from his sack. The still untouched hunk of wister meat was inside, nearly the full length of his forearm and twice as wide.

“Tear some off for yourself,” Aurix said to a filthy bearded man in front of him.

The man looked incredulously back and forth between the boy and the meat, but didn’t need to be asked twice. His dirty fingers scrabbled at the flesh and tore a sizable hunk from it. He stuffed the whole of it into his mouth quickly, as if Aurix might change his mind. His eyes welled with tears as he chewed. One fell, cutting a clean track into the grime on the man’s cheek before disappearing into his dirty beard.

“Be well,” Aurix said and moved along until all of the vagabonds on the street had been fed, and the meat was gone. Most had not seen kindness of such a sort in a long time and were so baffled that they said nothing. A few thanked him through full mouths. One hunched old woman with a tangled web of hair so pale it could only be described as crystalline grabbed his hand and kissed it several times before letting go and tearing into her meal.

Aurix walked through the town, peering into shops and inspecting wares. Many sold things he’d never seen before, some with purposes he couldn’t even fathom. He spent extra time visiting the smithy shops. The familiar ping of metal being hammered, the hiss and steam of the slack tub, the smell and heat of the hearth, and the anvil spitting sparks with every strike were comforting. Brill had been right, some of the things these smiths could do with iron and steel was incredible and beautiful—and in many cases, deadly. There were swords with blades long and sharp enough to halve a braka with a single stroke, some inscribed with incantations in languages that Aurix had never seen before. A few were so large that Aurix had to wonder at who could even wield them—giants surely. Even the stable master back at the inn would have a hard time lifting one, much less swinging it.

All around him, children dashed and laughed, unfazed by a vague aura of desperation and unease that Aurix could sense but not understand. The only thing he could compare it to was the constant concern of his parents when he’d had a bout of baneblight as a young boy. It was as if, despite all of the activity and motion, the city itself was sick somehow, and everyone was bound by worry. It was another thing he would have to ask Shlee about.

Flanking the main gate, he saw two guards atop platforms near the top of the wall scanning the distance. The platforms continued all around the entire circumference of the city. Most were unmanned, but Aurix figured they could support upwards of a thousand archers. To take Midian by force would be a challenge—by surprise, virtually impossible.

A few shopkeepers were starting to light lamps and torches in preparation for darkfall. Aurix had started heading toward the inn down one of the darkening alleys when a voice barked from behind him.

“Don’t be coy with me, quatch! I’ll knock yer damn teeth out.”

Aurix stopped and turned. A guard garbed in black mail that gleamed in the glow of sunset and flame had his hand locked around the wrist of a pretty young woman with short blond hair. He was trying to pull her into the darkness between two of the shops. Aurix was surprised to see it was the same girl that had waved to him when they’d first arrived at the inn. Her eyes were filled with fear. When they found his, they pleaded for help.

The guard saw Aurix. “What’s yer glitch, cur. Move on.” He was clearly deep in his cups, his words slurred.

He thought about what Shlee had told him about his responsibility to Valeria, and found he didn’t care. One person that needed his help was no less important than the many. The problem was that he had no idea what to do. He was no match for an armored city guard, drunk or no.

Almost without thinking, Aurix said to the girl, “Oh! There you are cousin. In a spot of bother again, I see. What’d she do, sir?”

“That’s between us. I’ve got some questions for ’er. Now get lost.”

“Sounds like she’s really done it this time. I’d better go and get my uncle. It’ll just take a few minutes. He’s the stable master at the inn at the edge of town.” It was all Aurix could come up with at a moment’s notice and it was a gamble. If the guard knew the man well, the ruse wouldn’t work, but maybe he’d lose interest in the girl while he roughed Aurix up in the alley.

Aurix turned and ran three steps down the alley before the guard’s voice rang out.

“Hold it.”

Aurix stopped. He was holding his breath when he turned.

“Maybe we’ll let this one slide, eh missy?” he said, giving her arm a jerk.

The girl squeaked a bit, but managed to bob her head up and down.

Aurix approached the guard, who’d still not released the girl. He put the dyne Shlee had given him into the drunkard’s free palm. “It’s not much, but hopefully it will pay for your trouble.”

The guard finally let her go.

She put several steps between them, sniffed and began to rub at her wrist.

“Heh. Fine. Beat it. Bothya.”

They didn’t need to be asked again and quickly walked down the alley together in the direction of the inn.

“Thanks,” the girl whispered with a shaky voice. “That was very brave. Quite stupid, but brave. And sweet.”

Aurix didn’t trust himself to speak yet. His heart was pounding and felt like it had tried to crawl up into his mouth. He attempted to swallow it back down.

“You just arrived today, didn’t you? On the black braka? I’m Inanna.”

He cleared his throat. “Nice to meet you. But I really should get back. My grandfather will be wondering where I am.” He increased his pace, very aware of her eyes on him and of the heat rising in his cheeks.

“Hey.” She grabbed his arm, pulled him to a stop, and stepped in front of him. “Really, thank you.” Before Aurix could react, she pressed her lips gently against his.

He tried not to notice how nice she smelled, or how warm her lips were, or how her hair tickled his nose, or how soft her hands were on his arm, but he noticed just the same. He felt the flush creep higher on his face until she finally broke the kiss.

“It was no big deal,” he stammered. “Anyone would have done it.”

“No. They wouldn’t have. Most people would have kept right on walking. And that cretin won’t touch me ever again, now that he thinks Regulus is my father. That was quick thinking.”

“I really do have to get back.” He turned to make his way to the inn, but then turned back to her. “I’m glad you’re okay. Goodnight.”

“I don’t even get to know my hero’s name?”

“Aurix,” he said, then ducked behind a beige braka and slipped into the inn.

Shlee had not yet returned when Aurix got back to the quiet of their room. His heart was still racing, but whether from Inanna’s kiss or his confrontation with the guard, he wasn’t sure. He collapsed onto his bed, intending to wait for Shlee to get back, but he was asleep within minutes.

When he woke, a pale light and the patter of a soft rain were filtering into the room from opposite the wall between his bed and Shlee’s. He’d slept soundly straight through the night, not even waking on the old man’s return. Aurix could hear Shlee shuffling through his morning ritual and stayed quiet until he was sure he was done.

“Good morning,” Aurix called.

“Ah, you’re up. Excellent. We should get cleaned up and be ready to leave when the rain is over. Bathing water is on the way.”

Aurix looked forward to getting the grime of the road off of his skin. He took a look at the sky through the window. “It’s going to be windy today, but the rain will be over in an arc or two. At least it will tamp down some of the dust of the trail.”

A knock on the door marked the arrival of two buckets of steaming water, soap, sponges and towels. Aurix hadn’t ever been happier for a bath. He stripped and began to sponge himself off. “What did you mean last night when you said that money was mine?”

“Just what I said, it’s yours. Beyond that, I can’t answer yet. Trust, whelp, trust.”

“That’s not going to cut it, Shlee. There’s only so much I can take on faith.”

“Again, it’s not time. And I don’t have most of the answers you seek in any case.”

Aurix sighed loudly enough for Shlee to hear through the wall. “You have far more than I do right now. When will it be time, exactly?”

“I don’t know myself, Aurix. All I know is that it hasn’t yet come.”

“That makes no sense!”

“It’s how it is.”

Aurix clenched his teeth for a moment to keep from shouting in his frustration. “How much?”

Shlee echoed Aurix’s previous sigh. “A significant amount. Is there something you wanted?”

“Answers would be nice. Where did it come from? Did my uncle give it to you?”

Shlee made a snorting sound that Aurix could only describe with the wall between them as a snicker. “Hardly. Now do you want to know what I found out, or are we going to bicker about things that can’t be changed?”

“Fine. What did you learn?”

“That your journey is not going to be easy. Xu’ul has obtained more of the God-Forged.”

Aurix’s heart sank. “Great.”

“It’s dire,” Shlee warned over the sounds of splashing water.

“It won’t change anything. I’d go even if he had them all. Tell me.”

“I’m not sure if you are bold or rash, whelp. But I admire your mettle. According to my sources, he’s added the Gauntlets, Armor and Boots to his collection.”

“So he’s all but invincible, then?”

“Not quite. Fortunately for us, Xu’ul is more about brute force than intelligence, but our luck won’t hold. He’s after the Helm. If he obtains it, he will almost certainly come for my Ring next. I’m sure that the temptation of everlasting life will be too much for him to resist once he knows where to find it. I expect the Shield will be next on his list, and he will have the advantage of Xyp’s speed. We’ll never beat him to it. Then the Tear. I suspect that will be his last destination, since he doesn’t know it’s purpose.”

Aurix absorbed this information and thought about their plan. Ajax’s Shield might allow him the proximity to Xu’ul to do…something. But what? He had no idea, and, until now, he’d trusted that his journey to set things right would provide the answers when he needed them. He dunked his head in the now murky and lukewarm water and squeezed more muck from his hair. He realized he was leaving far too much to chance.

“We need to ride for Ulixes’ Helm. We must beat him to it.”

Shlee peeked his head around the wall and grinned, his thin tuft of white hair standing in all directions. “We already are.” He tossed a ruck onto Aurix’s bed. It was overflowing with new finery. “Get dressed.”

Aurix pulled the clothes from the ruck in amazement. He held up a soft black shirt and pants made from oiled leather trimmed in royal blue suede. There was also a pair of clean black travel boots that he could see himself in nearly as well as the water he’d bathed in. “What is all this? I don’t care how much of my money you have. I can’t afford these.”

“Call them a gift,” Shlee said, hidden again by the dividing wall.

“From whom?”

“Someone who believes in you. Gods know why.”

The garments were comfortable and a perfect fit in size, but Aurix felt strange in them. They didn’t fit his simple disposition. “I look like a braka’s ass.”

Shlee came around to look on him, dressed in his own new clothes, simpler though they were. “No, you look noble. As you should, given the quest before you.”

“Shlee, I’m not nobility. I have no desire to be.”

“That doesn’t matter, whelp. What matters is what people will expect you to be.”

Aurix tried not to be insulted by Shlee’s doubletalk and deception, but he was finding it difficult to put up with the old man’s constant evasions and omissions. Clearly there was something going on that was much bigger than just his desire to set things right, but he had no idea what it was. If Shlee wouldn’t tell him, then perhaps the Helm would—and hopefully it would also provide the solution of how to dethrone Xu’ul despite his ever-growing power.

“Can you don your own armor, or will you need help?”

“What?” Aurix asked, incredulous.

Shlee pulled him by the shoulder past the wall and pointed at the hook on the wall by the door. From it hung a suit of leather mail.

“You must be joking.”

“Well, it certainly won’t fit me,” Shlee said with a chortle. “Make no mistake, your undertaking is dangerous. You’ll be glad for it someday. And it would be irresponsible of me to let you go without.”

Aurix added the cost up in his head. He doubted even his parents had as much dyne as that at one time when they’d been alive.

“It’s too much, Shlee. You should take it back. This doesn’t suit me. I’m no more a warrior than I am nobility.” He began to unclasp his new clothes, but Shlee put out a hand to stop him.

“You must not decline such gifts, boy. Did your parents not teach you as much?”

“They taught me how to exist without such regalia. I have no need of it.”

“You had no need of it. Now you do. Do you think I needed this Ring? It was a gift, and I at least had the manners to accept it graciously. To all things, there is a purpose. Please do not disrespect your benefactor. That is something I cannot allow.”

Aurix frowned, but nodded. “Thank you,” he said after a moment. He crossed the room to the armor and ran his hands over it, admiring the quality and inspecting the complicated straps. “And, yes, I think I could use a hand.”

By the time they’d eaten and gotten Aurix into his armor, the drizzle had stopped, though heavy clouds still dulled the sky. They made their way down to the stable. Aurix found the stiff, jointed leather to be surprisingly light and much more yielding than he’d expected. It moved with him naturally, as if it had been fitted to him before being cut.

To Aurix’s relief they found Regulus very much alive in the stable, so he felt confident that Nyx was still safe in her stall.

The goliath looked at Aurix appraisingly with the hint of an amused smile on his lips. Aurix felt self-conscious under his stare. “One minute,” he said. He called for a groom, his voice rumbling like the grinding together of two mountains.

While Shlee looked out at the morning traffic, Aurix stepped toward the stable master, feeling nervous. “Regulus?”

The colossus nodded.

“I fear I owe you an apology, sir. I told a lie about you last night.”

His laugh boomed through the morning. “No worries, good lad. Inanna told me of your chivalry.”

Aurix turned and looked at Shlee, who was now watching the two of them with curiosity.

“It was all I could think of in the moment,” he said, relieved.

The big man put his massive hand on Aurix’s shoulder. Even in his new leather armor he was pretty sure the giant could have broken bones with a squeeze. “Much worse fables have been told of me and for far less honorable reasons. Cunning it was. And Xu’ul’s Aegis will leave Inanna alone from now on. Fear not, Aurix, we have no quarrel.”

The groom brought Nyx over. She had obviously been washed and brushed. Her long coat glistened, and at first whiff, Aurix didn’t even smell her.

“Quite the beast you have there,” Regulus said, nodding toward her. There was something in his eyes that Aurix couldn’t quite decipher.

“Thank you for taking care of her.”

Regulus nodded to the groom who ran off once more.

“We are well met, bold one,” Regulus said to Aurix.

Aurix led Nyx from the shade of the stable out into the morning light and tossed their rucksacks over her broad back. He scratched the beast under her chin. She rolled her head from side to side, trying to help him reach an elusive itch and looked at him with empty eyes.

Shlee looked her over appreciatively. “Even better than when she went in. I told you she’d be fine.”

“Sir,” Regulus called. The groom had returned with a gorgeous brown and white paint caple with black mane and tail.

Aurix looked around for the mare’s owner, but there was no one else nearby. To his infinite surprise, Shlee stepped forward.

“Thank you, Regulus.” Shlee took hold of the caple’s bridle with one hand, and dropped a coin into the stable master’s hand with the other.

The monstrous man tossed the coin back to him. “We’re still more than square, sire. Good day to you gentlemen.”

Once they were out into the tumult of the city, Aurix could contain his frustration no more. “What are you thinking, old man? A caple?”

“Speed, Aurix. We need to be quick if we are to have any hope of reaching Grimvale before Xu’ul’s men.”

“You really are crazy. Or daft. And how will Nyx and I keep up with your mare at a gallop?”

“Questions, questions. You’ve such little faith.”

“Gods, Shlee! You’ve given me nothing in which to have faith. You must tell me something before I can believe it.”

“And I have. That when it’s time to know, you will.”

“But I don’t know anything at all.”

“You know everything you must. You know where we are going, and why. Yes?”

“I know we are riding south to Grimvale. But for the Helm and not the Shield, like I thought. So that was a lie.”

Shlee waved him off. “Bah. A misdirection. And had we ridden for the Shield, we would be much nearer the end of our journey, with no hope of success. You chose the Helm all by yourself this morning.”

“And how could you have known that I would change my mind? Why all the deception? You could have just told me where we needed to go.”

“This journey must be yours alone, whelp. All I can give you as an answer is that I knew your answer before you did, but knew you’d come to it on your own eventually.”

Aurix’s head hurt. “Really? And how could you have known that?”

“Because it was the only right answer.”

“Drak! Slag, all of it.”

Shlee looked amused at Aurix’s outburst. “Such a mouth on you.”

“Let’s say I change my mind and decide to ride for the Shield after all?”

“Then we do as you choose. But then none of this would matter in any case.”

“Oh, and why’s that?”

“Because we’d soon be dead.”

“Gods!”

Shlee’s laughter accompanied them nearly halfway through Midian. Eventually, he said, “You must choose a weapon.”

“You mean you didn’t do that for me too?”

“A weapon is a very personal choice.”

“So is having no weapon at all. I told you, I am no warrior.”

“And if required to protect yourself? Would you just allow yourself to be slain?”

Aurix shrugged, weary of the neverending verbal battles with Shlee. “I wouldn’t know how to use them in any case.”

It was the old man’s turn to swear. “Gods, whelp. You swing a maul and mace and sword. You throw a javelin, thrust a spear, draw a bow. It doesn’t require a brilliant mind, of which you now seem to be lacking.”

Aurix puffed out his cheeks and blew out the air in an effort to calm down.

Shlee watched his frustration with amusement.

Finally, Aurix answered. “My father use to play swords with me. Sticks mostly, but wasters when I got a little bit older later. I’ve harvested fields with a sickle since I was as high as your knee. But that’s hardly a weapon.”

“On the contrary, it can be. But that requires proximity, and I doubt you are ready for close-quarters combat. It requires significant dexterity. It’s up to you, but I would recommend a simple arming sword for now. Come.”

Shlee led the two of them and their mounts to a ramshackle smithy shed. The smell of iron in the forge and the rhythmic pounding of metal made Aurix long for Dren again.

The smithy gave them a curt nod. His face was damp with sweat and darkened by soot and smoke. He considered the edge of a glowing orange rod of iron then started pounding at it again. Sparks rained down around the anvil. “Have a look-see.” He pointed his hammer toward the inner corner of the shed. “I’ve a dummy for ye to take a swing, if ye wish.”

Aurix looked around the shed, a bit doubtful. There were a hundred swords at least, mounted on the gapped and rickety walls, and in dozens of styles and shapes. Most were plain and unadorned, far less fanciful than some of the glistening, emblazoned pieces he’d seen during his travels through the town the night before. Though those were beautiful to look upon, these better suited his tastes, and would be no less deadly for their dull finishes and simplicity.

“Where do I even begin?” Aurix asked. “This will take all day.”

“Fortunately for you, I know a thing or two about swords, whelp.”

Since Shlee seemed to know a thing or two about nearly everything, Aurix wasn’t surprised. Several lifetimes apparently provided one with the opportunity to learn much.

Shlee eyed a few blades and pulled two down, one a few inches longer than the other. He held the longer one out to Aurix just beneath the hilt. “Take it and place the point on the ground next to you.”

Aurix did. The hilt ended precisely at his waist.

Shlee nodded as if he’d expected exactly what he was seeing. “You have a few things to consider. Length, weight, and grip. But length is what matters most. If the length is about right, you’ll know your sword when you wield it. It will choose you as much as you it.” Shlee held his arms up around a group of weapons on the wall. “These are the lengths you should be looking at.”

“Okay,” Aurix said and began to take down weapons one at a time in the area Shlee indicated. He found his weapon of choice in a matter of minutes.

Shlee inspected it, and nodded. The cross-section had a broad fuller, a depression in the metal that took up much of the width of the blade, making it lighter of weight than other styles on the wall. Then Shlee compared the sword to a few others and took one down. “Try this.”

“I thought you said the sword will choose me, as much as I it?” Aurix said, trading his weapon for the one Shlee held.

“Yes. And I also said you’d know it when you wield it. This one is a touch heavier and longer. You’ll grow into it. The grip is much the same. Just try it.”

Aurix hefted it. It was nearly as comfortable in his hand as the other, but it felt slightly awkward. “I think I liked the other better.”

Shlee handed Aurix’s preference back to him. “Now go swing them at the dummy.”

From the forge, the smith watched the exchange with a brow raised.

Aurix went to the corner and gave the wood and straw dummy a few hacks and thrusts with each sword. Even though it felt more unwieldy in his hand, he found he had better control with the larger of the two. He acknowledged as much to Shlee.

“You’re not used to it yet, either. Practice will build the muscles in your arm and wrist, and it will become more comfortable. Here.” He held out his wrinkled hand, and took the sword from Aurix. He hefted it once, and then proceeded to attack the dummy ferociously with a series of elegant swipes that spilled straw all over the floor of the shed. His movements were practiced and belied his age. “A good choice,” he said, momentarily breathless.

Aurix stood slack-jawed, amazed by Shlee’s skill and chose to trust the old man’s weaponry expertise.

With compliments on his ironwork Shlee dropped a few coins into the smith’s blackened hand, and obtained the scabbard for the piece. Then the two made for the gate under slate colored clouds that matched the steel of Aurix’s new blade.

Not far from the gate, Shlee said, “Wait with the animals. There are a few more things that we need before we depart.” He grabbed his ruck from the caple’s back, revealing a short sword of his own strapped against the regal beast’s side and headed off into the crowds.

While he was waiting, a familiar voice from behind made him jump.

“Leaving so soon?”

Aurix slowly turned to face her, a strange mixture of dread and excitement coursing through him.

Amid the dreary morning, Inanna might have been the only thing that shone. She wore a brilliant yellow dress, and her blond hair seemed to sparkle as it waved in the breeze.

Aurix swallowed hard. “Yes, we must be off.”

“You look different today,” she said. “Ready to conquer the world.”

Aurix’s cheeks flushed. “So do you. Brighter,” he said, and his cheeks burned even hotter with the entirely ridiculous compliment.

She thanked him with her eyes turned down demurely. “It’s a shame you have to go, I’d have liked to get to know you better.”

“There’s not much to know anyway.”

“Oh, I doubt that.” She gave him a cute half smile that made Aurix’s heart stutter in his chest. “I’m glad I caught you before you left. I wanted to thank you again for helping me out last night.”

Aurix noted the way that the boys and men that passed by looked at Inanna, and he felt a belt of anger tighten around his chest. But it wasn’t just a few men, or even some of the men. It was all of them. Even a fair number of women seemed to look on her longer than was polite. She acquired gazes like butterflies flitting over a yellow daffodil. His ego swelled to know that of all of them, he alone had her attention. He might have even stood a little straighter.

“Really, it was nothing,” Aurix said, noting in the light of day that she was a bit older than he’d thought the night before. A young woman, perhaps, but no more. “You’re very pretty,” he said aloud and had to physically restrain himself from clasping a hand over his mouth in embarrassment. He’d had no intention of saying it before the words were out. What a foon!

Inanna’s neck and face turned as red as Nova just before it set for the day. “And you are quite handsome, Aurix. And a gentleman. Thank you.”

Gods! Where is Shlee? “Um. Yeah. Well.” He cleared his throat. “I talked to Regulus this morning. He said you told him about our adventure last night.”

She giggled, and Aurix thought there might be something living inside of his stomach, as much as it moved and fluttered. “He was tickled by it. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him laugh so hard. He didn’t mind at all.”

“That’s good, since he could probably squash me with a finger.”

Inanna laughed again. The sound jingled like chimes made of crystal. “He’s mostly harmless. A genius with animals. And he’s a friend of mine. You’ve made an ally. Two of us, in fact.”

“Good.” Aurix smiled, surprised to find himself relaxing around her.

“Here comes your old friend.” She nodded across the narrow city street. “Safe travels to you, Aurix. May the Gods smile on your path.”

He turned to see Shlee approaching, his gaze wandering from Aurix back along the path that they’d come from.

When Aurix turned back, Inanna had gone. A flash of yellow vanishing into the crowd and a sea of swiveling heads turning after her were the only signs that she’d ever been there at all. As Shlee approached, Aurix saw even his head was turned in the direction she’d gone.

“Who was that?” Shlee asked, and slung his full sack over his mount, once more hiding his sword.

“No one,” Aurix answered. He felt his face flushing yet again.

“Uh huh,” Shlee said with a grin and a twinkle in his eye. “For no one, she was quite lovely. Are you ready, whelp?”

“Yes,” Aurix said. “Let’s head for Grimvale.”

Shlee held his caple to a slow trot that Nyx only just managed to equal as they made their way out of Midian through the light morning congestion heading to and from the town.

Aurix kept fidgeting with his new armor and clothing as he bounced uncomfortably on the braka’s broad back. He slung unspoken curses at Shlee, while thoughts of Inanna hovered around the edges of his mind. His memories of her sent little shivers through him every now and again despite a still and sticky post-rain humidity that had settled over the morning.

“That mare sure seemed to take to you right away,” Aurix said, not bothering to keep the testiness from his voice. “It’s almost like she knows you.”

“Do you think?” Shlee said cryptically, giving her neck a fond pat. “I’ve named her Aoni.”

Apparently there would be no answers beyond that. Aurix sighed at Shlee’s persistent secrecy. After a few minutes, he tried again. “What’s wrong with Midian?”

Next to him, Shlee smiled, but Aurix thought there was a hint of sadness in it. “What do you mean?”

“Everyone seemed worried. It’s almost like the city itself is unwell.”

“That’s a very mature observation, Aurix, and an apt description.” Shlee was quiet for a moment before continuing. “It’s like that everywhere now, though it isn’t as obvious in places like Dren. Xu’ul’s Guard doesn’t bother with the smaller towns and villages much.”

“So it’s the Guard?”

“Not in and of itself, but his Guard serves as a constant reminder that trouble is always just a whisper away. Xu’ul rules with a heavy hand, and taxes the cities heavily. His Guard takes whatever they want without paying. Many shops have gone out of business. Others are on the verge. Half a dozen smaller cities have collapsed entirely and it won’t take much to tip the scales in many others.”

“That doesn’t seem too smart.”

“Greed never is. People are right to be nervous. Valeria was very different just ten revolutions ago.” Shlee guided Aoni onto an overgrown and untended path heading south surrounded by trees.

Aurix followed with Nyx. She tossed her head and snorted nervously every few minutes. “Knock it off, girl,” he told her and stroked her neck to reassure her, but he knew how she felt. The road was forbidding; it didn’t look like anyone had traveled this way in ages. And Midian was already entirely gone from view behind them. It was like they were riding through the middle of a desolate nowhere.

“You’d been to Midian before, hadn’t you? And you knew those people.”

“I’ve been many places and met many people, most of whom are dead now. Four hundred revolutions is a long time. Speaking of which, there’s none like the present.” Shlee took one of the rucks from Aoni’s back and tossed it in the dirt at the side of the road then dug a heel into a white splotch on the mare’s side. In an instant, her trot became a gallop. “See you soon, whelp!” he called over his shoulder.

“Shlee! Wait!” Aurix looked after them desperately until he could no longer see the dirt being kicked up by the mare’s hooves.

Nyx snuffed and shook her head while she plodded along.

“Drak!” Aurix swore. His mind was reeling with possibilities, none of them promising. Was Shlee after the Helm for himself? Was he planning to confront Xu’ul on his own? What had been the point of this whole charade then?

Aurix stopped Nyx with a tug on her neck. He needed to think. He could ride on, arriving in Grimvale days behind the old man, but by then, Ulixes’ Helm would probably be long gone. He could ride after the other remaining Relics, but he had no idea where to even start looking for them. Shlee had never told him where they were. He could head back to Midian, dyneless, and maybe sell some of his fancy new gear and try to get answers—perhaps Inanna would know where to find them. His pulse raced for a minute at the thought of seeing her again. Or, he could ride back home to Dren to face the consequences of embarking on a foon’s errand. But then what of Xu’ul? Was he really prepared to just let the tyrant continue with his cruel dominion, and possibly unmake all of existence unopposed? Then again, could he even believe anything at all that Shlee had told him?

Nyx was growing nervous, hoofing at the ground and snorting. Aurix jumped down from her back and gave her a pat. “We’re fine, girl. Relax.” He leaned his back up against her giant bulk while he tried to decide what to do.

Despite this latest bit of insanity, Aurix still thought he could believe at least most of what Shlee had told him. Whether or not his reasons were noble, Aurix didn’t know, but he could think of no reason for the old man to bother with lies. Regardless, Aurix had no intention of allowing Xu’ul to stand unchallenged, which meant he could not return home. And riding on to Grimvale alone seemed a very bad idea.

Nyx continued her restless shifting and moving. Her snorting grew higher in pitch and her respiration increased.

Aurix tried to tell himself that his decision had nothing to do with the pretty blonde girl back in Midian, but he knew better. And really, he had no choice. He needed information, and the city a few arcs behind them was—Inanna notwithstanding—the most logical place to start.

“Alright, Nyx. Looks like we’re going back to Midian.” He turned back to his braka at the same moment she collapsed heavily onto the road, sending up a cloud of dust. “Nyx!” he screamed and knelt down next to her. He put his hand on her flank and was alarmed to find her shaking violently. Heat rolled from her in waves.

The braka continued making strange noises ranging between her usual deep whoomphs, and a skittering, high-pitched keening that Aurix assumed was the vocalization of her fear.

Aurix was terrified, sure she was dying. Had she been poisoned? He stroked her throat and tried to calm her. “It’s okay, Nyx. You’re okay.” Tears welled in Aurix’s eyes. “Don’t you die on me, girl.”

If anything, her tremors worsened. Aurix heard an audible snap within her and winced. Her body contorted and seized so viciously, it raised her off the ground and slammed her back down. Her dull black eyes had rolled back so far that only the whites were showing, and her breath came in shallow gasps. Cracking sounds came from under her thick hide. Her seizures were breaking her apart.

“Gods, Nyx, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Aurix wiped hot tears from his cheeks and put his hand on her face. The thick fur around her eyes was wet with her own tears. He didn’t want to watch her die, but he couldn’t bring himself to look away. He wished it would hurry up and end her suffering.

Then her face crumpled with a series of pops and snaps that sounded like a crackling fire.

Aurix felt sick and shook his head. The braka’s body collapsed inward on itself, and much of her fur sloughed off in thick clumps. It was as if she were being eaten away from the inside.

“Fex,” Aurix said aloud. His chest hitched. As Nyx’s thick muscular legs shrank and shriveled, he could take no more and turned away. He sat on the dirt next to his fallen mount and looked down the road in the direction that Shlee had ridden. His view was blurred with tears. A light breeze slipped through the corridor of trees and ruffled his hair. After a moment, all of the sickening noise coming from Nyx’s body ceased entirely, and Aurix sighed, thankful her suffering was over.