Blade of Erogrund

Godric gawked in a mixture of disbelief and surprise. Mira just stared, her eyes wide, but otherwise indistinguishable.

The man raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting this reaction. “Do you have a problem? Should you need help with breathing, Narn is, as you already know, quite excellent at chest compressions.”

The boy looked around, first to the dwarf, then the wolf, to Mira, and finally to the man who glared disdainfully. “You’re jesting. Surely you aren’t serious; it has been hundreds of years since a dragon was even seen in Niron, let alone this far from the North Peaks.”

The man pointed a scarred hand at Godric sternly, though with a look that was not altogether unkind. “Look, boy. I don’t have time to waste explaining all that is to you. For now just trust us, or don’t, I really don’t care, but you are coming with us one way or another. I have told you all that I intend to and you will have to be satisfied with it.”

Narn stalked to Godric’s leg and nudged him with a low growl.

The young companions resentfully complied.

The short walk to the edge of the decimated village was made in heavy silence that seemed to muffle even the clanking of Thain’s bulky armor as though the air surrounding them could sense the tension and refused to echo the noise that attempted to travel through it lest the intense situation erupt into conflict.

Fortunately for all, it did not and the small party made it beyond the shattered walls of Dunn and into the surrounding forest with no difficulties.

After only a short time they came to a small area where the trees thinned into narrow saplings, as though a clearing had once been there but had long since been seeded by the trees around it. The man raised a hand to stop them.

He glanced back to Thain. “This is the place, right?”

The stocky dwarf shrugged his hunched shoulders. “How should I know? The woman would hardly tell me.”

Rolling his eyes, the man turned to face Thain. “If this isn’t the place we might end up losing her and it will be days before we meet up again. Can’t you remember anything about what she said?”

Cocking his head, Thain stroked his beard thoughtfully. “Well..... It was a clearing of some sort. And she said it had saplings about, eh....ten years old?”

The man buried his face in his hands in exasperation. “And how are we suppose to know how old trees are?!”

Thain rested his hammer on his shoulder. “Stone and steel...”

Mira raised a small hand. The man gestured to her. “What is it?”

“These trees,” She said, wrapping her hand around one of the trunks, “are more than ten years old. I would say closer to fifteen.”

The dwarf snapped his fingers. “Hey, that could be it. Fifteen sounds right.”

The man still looked skeptical. “Is that right? How do you know?”

Mira shrugged slightly. “Because I’ve grown up in these woods. We both have,” She said gesturing to Godric. Not that I would be able to know the age of a tree because of it, he thought to himself but nodded anyway.

“Perhaps we should cut one down and check its growth rings just to be certain,” Thain suggested.

A feminine voice from not far off interrupted them. It was sweet and light like a beam of sunlight, but filled with annoyance that shone through its soft tone. ”Ecthion, it’s just a grove of trees.”

A slender woman stepped out from behind a clump of bushes and dexterously tip-toed through the fallen branches that filled the woods to silently stand near them. Her hair was chestnut brown and long, coming to what Godric would have guessed to be her lower back, but was done in some complex braid down her neck that gave him a headache just trying to figure out. Her eyes appeared black and piercing at first, but were revealed to truly be blue when the sun reflected off of them. She had a pleasant face with gentle features and a high forehead that was mostly covered by a dark brown strip of clothed tied around her head and ears. Her arms were slim, like the rest of her body, ending in delicate-looking hands. The first carried a gorgeous bow engraved with what looked to be a forest and the second holding a well-fashioned arrow complete with iron head and fletched with green feathers. She wore simple leggings that went from her waist to her boots, which appeared to have been made of high-quality leather. A molted cloak covered her shoulders and flowed off her back that appeared to also sport a large hood that was not in use.

Stepping toward them, she put the arrow she held back into a quiver which hung from her back. “Must you always make things complicated, Ennor?”

The man scowled, but Thain raised a hand. “Come now, Sarah, you can hardly blame us.”

She sighed. “Fine; you’re right. I guess I should have known better.” Her eyes fell on Godric and Mira and her hand clenched the bow. “Who are these?”

“Survivors from Dunn. They saw us in the village, so Ennor said they had to come with,” Thain explained. Sarah’s eyes softened and her face darkened as she looked the two children over. “So then Dunn has fallen as well?”

The man, who, Godric presumed from Sarah’s previous comment, was named Ennor, waved a hand dismissively. “Threst is the last. It’s only about twenty miles south of here.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Sarah asked. “Let’s move.”

Thain grumbled something, but Godric only picked up the words “running” and “pain”.

After hours of walking, running, and everything in between, Godric finally believed the rumors that the forest in Niron was unending. The massive wooden trunks seemed to blur together into one immense tapestry of dullness that perpetually surrounded them. Even the leaves appeared the same, creating a blank atmosphere that epically failed to distract him from the ever-increasing discomfort that radiated from his feet. Several times he hung back with Mira and made weak attempts at conversation, but each time she answered in such a distracted, faint manner that he finally gave up.

And so minutes passed to hours and the hours pushed through the brief morning, breaching the dawn of the afternoon, and finally into the dusk of evening. They stopped only twice, once to rest and once to eat a meager meal of bread and mushrooms.

When the first star shimmered into appearance on the horizon, Ennor called a halt. “That’s enough. We have covered probably sixteen miles already; we should reach Threst early tomorrow morning. Thain, get a small fire together. Nothing big, just enough to get some warmth. It should be a cold one tonight.” The dwarf nodded and pulled a small tinder box from a pack and started at his task. Sarah and Ennor unrolled bedrolls onto the leaf-covered ground while Narn paced around them, his eyes searching the trees.

“You wouldn’t happen to have another pair of those stashed somewhere, would you?” Godric asked hopefully.

Ennor snapped his fingers. “Ah, yes. I almost forgot.” He pulled out two thick cloaks from his pack and tossed them to the boy. “Here. They aren’t cots, but they will keep you warmer than any tunic.” Godric ran his fingers over the coarse material, but it did not bother him. They had many similar blankets in Dunn that he had used many times before, though he noticed a particularly large hole in one of them. He handed the other to Mira who accepted it gratefully.

The small party ate another scanty meal around the little fire just as full darkness was blanketing them. With it came an intense drowsiness until he could not hardly keep his eyes open. Thain stuck a small twig into the fire and looked up at him. “You should consider getting some shut-eye lad. We have another march tomorrow and you will need your legs.”

The boy nodded his agreement and, rubbing his eyes, wrapped himself in the cloak Ennor had given him to lie down not far from where Mira had not long since retired. It seemed as though he fell asleep even as his eyelids closed.

With a start, Godric awoke. He had no idea how long he had been asleep or what had woken him, but he scanned the surroundings as best he could. It was almost totally black out, but the tiny fire still flickered, its light just barely revealing the faces of Ennor, Sarah, Thain, and the sizable body of Narn all shrouded in the dancing shadows that streamed from the fire. A subtle whisper that echoed like song wavered into his ears. Thain’s deep voice seemed to guide the music while Sarah’s high melody brought life to its dull words. With them was Ennor, who murmured the lyrics more than sang them as he stared deep into the embers of the fire.

Long ago

When mighty kingdoms stand

All laid low

Before a terrible taloned hand

There was he

Who sought to save his land

His kingdom did he free

All in vain

For great was his foe

Despite his strain

And greater sorrows did he know

The voices rose and fell with each verse, weaving into a dark lullaby. Godric’s heart strained as he heard the mournful words. What do they mean?

The song stopped with the last word and all was silent save the crackling of the fire for a time. Then Ennor spoke just above a whisper.

“So what do we do with the girl and boy?”

Godric heard Thain’s armor scrape as the dwarf adjusted his seat on the ground. “I say we leave them behind. Just deadweight and more mouths to feed, if you ask me. Anyway, that boy has some heart. He can take care of them both - for a time at least.”

He heard Sarah’s hair rustle as he assumed she shook her head. “No, that would be wrong. They are scared and clearly hurting. We can’t just throw them aside like dirty stones. Then we would be no better than bandits.”

“We have a noble purpose that must be fulfilled,” Ennor said. “The Dragon is just the beginning. If we fail all is lost. I won’t jeopardize everything just for a couple of homeless children.”

“Even so,” Sarah countered gently, “it would be a shame to already condemn them as lost, no matter how worthy our purpose is. The boy truly has courage if not skill and the girl is knowledgeable for her age.”

Silence.

Ennor finally spoke once more. “Then it’s settled. We bring them with us tomorrow and do whatever is most fitting when we reach Threst. With a marginal amount of luck, perhaps it will still be standing and we can leave them there.” The others murmured in agreement and someone smothered the fire.