by W.O. Cassity
***
Adam walked with Talia as she showed him some animal trails he hadn't noticed before. Donadeir went to gather the cattails so they could set additional snares along the trails.
“Once we have enough food to last till we are out of the kingdom, we can head out. We will need to keep our eyes open for items to trade,” Talia explained.
“We can save the hides from the animals we trap and trade them for more food,” Adam said.
“Yes, but if we want to get to Corronest safely, we will need silver as well,” Talia reminded him. “Once we are out of the reach of the Cult of Draenar, we can take the road and stay at inns along the way.”
“I have silver,” Adam said as he reached for his belt pouch. “I found a few pieces in a cave in the Berring Forest when I fled Riverside.”
Adam went to show Talia the silver pieces he retrieved in the cave when a pendant fell from the pouch into his hand, catching him by surprise. Looking at it closely, he felt a familiar scratching in his mind, and he began to remember seeing the pendant dangling in the rays of sunlight around the neck of the skeleton. His mind flooded with images, as he remembered putting it away, not once, but twice while standing in the cave. He also remembered how it burned his eyes when he tried to place it around his neck. Adam couldn’t understand how he forgot everything about this pendant.
“Where did you get that, Adam?” Talia inquired.
“This pendant is strange,” Adam mumbled. “When I looked at it just now, it was as if I never seen it before, but then I remembered I found it in a cave. All of my memories of it flooded me at once.”
“Looking at the craftsmanship, I’d say it is very valuable,” Talia noted.
“Yes, but I can’t explain it, Talia,” Adam struggled for the words to explain how he felt. “Something isn’t right about it. I believe it may be cursed.”
“Do you know what it does?” Talia asked.
“Not really, I forget the pendant exists when I put it away,” Adam explained. “And you don’t want to try to wear it, because it almost blinded me when I tried.”
“For now, it is best if you put it away then,” Talia suggested. “When we get to Corronest, we can find someone to look at it for you and then you can decide what you want to do with it.”
Adam nodded in agreement, as he put the pendant away in his pouch once more and cinched it shut.
“We should head back to camp,” Talia said. “I can’t shake this feeling we’re forgetting something important.”
Adam knew the feeling Talia was talking about. He just couldn’t put his finger on it either.
Talia walked ahead of him returning to their safe haven, and Adam purposely walked behind her, allowing his thoughts to drift to the conversation the evening before. Looking back on his life, he just couldn’t see how he could have such a great destiny. Although people who are connected to the Order, like Talia’s family, wholeheartedly believe in the Fates, there was something he felt he was missing. In his nightmares, Adam was able to remember clearly the suffering of his family during their last tragic moments, but when he awoke, those memories faded, leaving only a sentiment of the tragedy itself.
Adam looked on ahead to see Donadeir stacking up the cattail he had gathered at Talia’s request. He saw how diligently Donadeir worked to be a part of this group, with each of them serving their purpose. From his perspective, them coming together and becoming friends was the only real destiny here. They were friends for which he would trade any powerful destiny in order to retain. He was not sold on the idea he was meant for anything more.
Adam watched as Talia approached Donadeir and pointed across the stream toward the east and Donadeir nodded with understanding. Adam assumed she was explaining to Dona how many animal trails they had discovered. The exchange of smiles between Talia and Donadeir warmed his heart and gave him courage. His friends would stand beside him, that is, until they no longer could.
Adam’s thoughts quickly changed as Donadeir glanced in his direction and froze in place with a look of sheer horror. Overwhelmed with confusion and embarrassment, Adam was shocked to see Donadeir retrieve his fishing spear from near the cave entrance. Talia peered at Donadeir with confusion as well, trying to figure out what was happening.
Donadeir could never be what may be considered intimidating, Adam thought. Annoying perhaps, at his worst, Donadeir came across more like one of those small dogs who would bark and snarl, yet tuck tail and run at any clear sign of trouble.
As Donadeir gripped Adam’s fishing spear in both hands, his face twisted with aggression and focus, he came running toward Adam faster than he had ever seen Donadeir move before. Adam stopped and held his hands up, unsure as to why Donadeir was charging toward him, and cried out, “Wait, Donadeir!”
Just as the end of the fishing spear rushed past his head, Adam spotted Talia waving her hands in the air and screaming as he gaped in shock over Donadeir’s shoulder. It was then he heard the deep, yawning growl of the beast just behind him. Donadeir’s girth glanced against Adam’s side, knocking him out of the way.
Adam fell onto his right side and rolled over quickly to see Donadeir thrusting the spear at an immensely large bear who stood on its hind legs and was almost a man’s length taller than either of them. Donadeir fiercely and selflessly launched strike after strike as the giant beast clawed with rage trying to knock the spear free from his grasp. A smaller spear, which Talia had carved for their barricade, flew through the air, whooshing past Donadeir and Adam and striking a glancing blow on the bear’s left flank. The beast howled with unbridled rage as its gaping jaws snapped at the air trying to take away Donadeir’s weapon.
Jumping back to his feet, Adam quickly looked for a weapon of his own. Surveying the area around him, all he could find were rocks, and it was too risky to try to retrieve the spear Talia had thrown at the formidable beast. Almost without thinking, Adam began to launch rocks the size of his fist at the angry bear’s head. He managed to get the bear to turn its head just as it snapped at Donadeir’s spear. Donadeir jammed hard directly into the roof of the bear’s outstretched maw.
The bear squinted in pain, and its furious voice suddenly became filled with agony as it stumbled backward, almost falling over in the process. Donadeir continued to press his advantage as he tried jabbing toward the eyes of the large beast. The injured bear flinched and turned, swaying its head as another short spear, thrown by Talia, glanced across its side. Although her second spear didn’t puncture the bear’s flesh, it had clearly caused the beast pain. Donadeir raised the end of the spear high and brought it down swiftly, clubbing the predator hard against one of its ears.
As Donadeir brought the top of the spear up once more, it became clear the injured bear had had enough. It pulled away, still growling, as it tried to put some distance between itself and the round little human who had so bravely charged it. Donadeir continued to make threatening strikes with the tip of his spear, moving forward slowly, as he drove the bear back, until it finally accepted defeat and ran south on all fours back out of the glade.
Adam looked at Donadeir in amazement, for the bear had managed to nick the side of Donadeir’s cheek. It was just a scratch, but Donadeir had placed himself at great peril to save Adam’s life without the thought he could have gotten himself killed in the process.
Talia rushed forward with her sword in hand, panting loudly. Adam had never seen her so unsettled before. The surprise appearance of the beast bearing down on them had been something neither he, nor Talia, had been prepared for. Donadeir hadn’t thought, he had just acted from his heart.
“You ok, Donadeir?” Talia asked.
“I’m fine,” Donadeir replied. “What about Adam?”
Adam nodded his head slowly in complete disbelief. He never imagined the hopelessly spoiled ingrate would ever be able to save himself, much less risk everything to save someone else’s. He felt like he was truly seeing Donadeir for who he really was, for the very first time.
“Donadeir,” Adam started, “That was the bravest thing I have ever witnessed.”
Donadeir blushed. “It was no different than when you saved me,” he replied.
“No Dona, that was so much more,” Adam explained. “When I worked with Talia saving you from the goblins, we worked together and had a plan. Things may not have gone as we intended, but it all worked out in the end. What you did, risking everything, knowing your weaknesses, and not caring about your own safety in spite of what I could possibly be in the future, clearly shows that you are the bravest man I know and I owe you a life debt in return.”
