by Rob J. Hayes
“It should be you,” Irris said. “I can hold them back while you escape with your daughters.”
Matriarch Ohlenas shook her head, an infinitely sad look in her eyes. “There is nowhere I could go where they wouldn't find me, and no lengths they won't go to to kill my children. Take them to Acanthia, hide them in Truridge or Arkas. We Drurr are tolerated there at least, and the children will pass for human for some years yet.”
Benr gave Irris her sword, then the human grabbed her hand. “Thank you for this,” he said, tears running down his cheeks. The slave knew he was done for, but he did not ask to accompany his children, he accepted his death. Irris had known veteran warriors with less courage.
“They will torture you, and you will talk,” Irris told Benr as the twins were ushered towards her. She took hold of their hands.
“They will never have the chance,” Benr said. Irris saw the dagger in his hand.
A splintering sound came from the door. She turned to see an axe head chop through the wood.
“Go, children.” Irris pushed the twins towards the portal.
Lorri cried for her mother and father. Ehln said nothing, but grabbed hold of her sister and led her through the portal. Irris tossed a pack of supplies in after them.
“Keep them safe,” Matriarch Ohlenas said.
Irris saluted her. “By my life and bloodline, my Queen.”
As the door gave way, Irris stepped through the portal, and it snapped shut behind her.
#
A wave of vertigo washed over Irris. She dropped to her knees, fighting to keep her stomach from exiting through her mouth. She looked down. Blades of grass poked up between her fingers. Something she had not felt for a very long time; it had been almost thirty years since she had ventured above ground.
Irris heard weeping and the faint whisper of a breeze stirred the air around her. It was cold, and she realized it was likely on the verge of winter. Deep below the surface, the Drurr caverns were always warm, sometimes uncomfortably so, and Irris had gotten used to the warmth. It hit her then that she would never see her home again. For the love of her queen, Irris had exiled herself to care for and protect two children who were not hers. They were not even the same race as Irris — not completely.
The grass beneath her was long, suggesting the area was unsettled. Humans always raised cattle or grew crops on grassland. The Drurr had long ago discovered much more natural sources of food; the fungi caverns that grew deep underground were more than enough sustenance for their colony.
Lorri continued crying.
Looking up, Irris saw the two girls huddled together. Lorri sobbed into her hands and Ehln hugged her sister, slowly rocking back and forth. There were tears in the silent girl's eyes too, but none escaped to roll down her face.
By my life and my bloodline. Irris had sworn to protect the girls not only on her own life, but on the lives of her own children, as well as all those that might one day follow them.
“Come.” Irris pushed to her feet, despite the weight of her armor, swinging the heavy pack of supplies over her shoulder. “We must go. We head west towards Acanthia.”
Ehln looked up and nodded, climbing to her feet, but Lorri kept weeping. The sound was almost painful to Irris' ears. She had never liked children, not even her own.
“We must go,” Irris repeated, holding out her hands.
Ehln slowly put her small hands underneath her sister's arms and struggled to lift Lorri to her feet. The crying girl sniffed and stood. Ehln got her sister's attention with a poke to the forehead, then pointed upwards. Lorri followed the gesture, and her crying stopped as quickly as her eyes widened and her mouth fell open.
“What is it?” Lorri’s tiny voice came out almost as a squeak.
Irris glanced upwards. “It is the sky, child. I have not seen it since...” She paused, remembering the battle that had driven her underground. “I have not seen it in a very long time.” She would not burden the twins with her own misery. They had plenty of their own.
“It's so big,” Lorri whispered, still staring upwards.
“Yes,” Irris agreed. She fidgeted in her armor, one of the straps that held the plate attached to her left calf had come loose, and it was slipping down her leg. Irris knelt, loosened the straps, and removed the plate, dropping it so the tall grass swallowed it up. They had a lot of walking to do and the less weight she was carrying, the easier it would be.
“Come,” she said again, this time taking hold of both children's hands and pulling them away. “We must go.”
#
Irris watched the farm from the shadow of the stone wall. The smell of cattle shit wafted her way and set her nose wrinkling in disgust. The twins knelt beside her, mimicking her actions as she watched the men and women going about the last of their day's work despite the rain.
Their supplies were running low. Matriarch Ohlenas had only a small warning that her people were coming for her children, so Irris had shoved whatever food and water she could into the small sack. Even she was starting to get sick of raw dark-root shrooms. The farm would have food, and plenty of it, but Irris doubted they would part with it for nothing, and she had very little to trade. She hadn't even thought about packing money, not that she knew what most humans used for currency.
She shuffled down the wall a short way, making sure to keep low. Irris didn’t think they would spot her, especially not in the downpour and the day being so gray there was barely any light.
They had been out in the world five days, and already the children had seen more in those five days than they had in their previous five years. The starry sky had been just the start of their education. As the morning dawned, the twins found themselves nearly blinded by the rising sun. Irris herself had been shocked by it, her memory of the bright ball barely did it justice, but the children had never seen anything like it before. Lorri had collapsed, praying to one of the Gods, while Ehln had to be told to look away from the thing before it blinded her.
Irris had not thought about the innocence and naivety of the twins before then, but now she realized the full extent of her promise to their mother. She had to protect them not just from the Drurr that were, even now, hunting them, but from the world and all the dangers and temptations it had to offer.
Irris pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. The twins copied her. She gave them a stern expression, which the children attempted to throw back at her. It stopped her in her tracks and, despite the peril surrounding them, Irris found herself chuckling for the first time in a long time.
Lorri grinned wide, while Ehln dropped her eyes to the ground and scuttled to the other side of Irris where she got as close as she could to a hug. Irris' armor had become a part of her in the last five days, and not just because it had gone from chaffing, to bleeding, to developing callous where it rubbed. The dirt, grime, and sweat made the gambeson feel alive beneath her plate, and she had a number of annoying itches she couldn't reach.
Irris settled down with her back against the wall, and Lorri shuffled up close on the opposite side to Ehln.
“We'll wait until nightfall and sneak into the barn. It'll be dry, and we may be able to steal some food,” Irris said over the sound of the rain bouncing off of her armor.
“Are they hunting us, too?” Lorri asked quietly.
“The humans? Not exactly. They won't welcome us, though. Humans don't tend to like Drurr. You two little ones would likely be alright, you look human enough. As you grow older though you might start to look more Drurr, more like me.”
Humans were odd things. Their mouths were too thin and they did not have enough teeth. They tended to have more skin on their faces and it often led to ugly wrinkles. Their eyes had an extensive range of colors, whereas Drurr eyes were only black. Irris thought all humans were strange, ugly creatures, and she had no idea how Matriarch Ohlenas could have taken one as a mate. It was not uncommon for the Drurr in high positions to take human slaves to fulfill the
ir sexual desires, but to breed with one was beyond forbidden and with good reason.
“I miss her,” Lorri said with a sniff. “Why can't we go back?”
“Because you are being hunted,” Irris said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Our people will kill you.”
“Why?”
Irris looked up at the sky. They had some time before darkness fell, and the children should know why they were considered monsters to understand why they needed to run. Irris shifted in her armor, then gasped as part of her hip started to hurt. To make it worse, she was still no closer to satisfying the maddening itch above her navel. Perhaps a story would also distract her mind.
“Have you heard of Reowyn?” Irris asked.
“No.” Lorri looked a little abashed.
That was no surprise to Irris. No doubt Matriarch Ohlenas wanted to shield the twins from as much about Reowyn as possible, given the circumstances. She had tried to hide the twin's parentage for as long as possible, but truths had a habit of coming out when one did not want them to. Irris took a deep breath and sighed, aware the wait would chafe their patience. The rain fell thick and heavy, and Irris wished she had thought to bring a hat.
“Irri,” Lorri whined.
With a grin, Irris started. “Reowyn is a scary story told to human and Drurr children alike. 'Behave or Reowyn will steal your soul.' and that sort of thing. What most people don't realize these days is that Reowyn was real.
“Long, long ago, back when the Drurr were mighty and still ruled much of the surface as humans do now, there was a great Drurr Patriarch who looked after the largest of our kingdoms. The Patriarch had many human slaves, but he favored one woman above all others and, for the first time in all record, this human slave gave birth to a Drurr child.
“The Patriarch already had a child, a beautiful daughter whom he loved very much, but he wanted a son. So, despite his people's objections, he allowed the human to give him that son. Reowyn was born, the first and last half-Drurr half-human.”
“Until us,” Lorri said proudly, though Irris was not sure it was something they should be proud of.
“Until you,” she agreed. “For years, Reowyn was raised alongside his sister, and he seemed a normal child for the most. He had inherited his father's aptitude for magic, and even early on it was clear he was powerful. He was, however, not well accepted.
“The other children teased him for being different and slave-born, and Reowyn had no friends, only his sister, and the two grew closer and closer each day.”
Irris looked up and squinted into the falling rain. The sun was fading, but the world was still too bright to consider attempting to sneak into the barn.
“By the time Reowyn reached adulthood the humans were spreading out, claiming more and more land as their own, and the Drurr were hesitant to resist. They were being hunted by the human's Inquisition and feared another war.
“One day, Reowyn's sister did not come home from her hunt and, sick with worry, Reowyn rode out to find her. He did find her…but she was dead. Humans had murdered her for no crime other than being Drurr.”
“Did that happen a lot?” Lorri asked.
“It was as common back then as it is today. Acanthia is one of the few places where we are tolerated by humans, and that is only because of the trade we provide.
“Reowyn went mad with rage. It was a sight to behold. He tracked the humans to a bustling city filled with men, women, and children. But there was no mercy in Reowyn after seeing his sister's lifeless corpse. He tore a hole in the world and ripped the human's city to the ground, murdering them all.
“Yet, Reowyn wasn't satisfied. He wanted his sister back. He took her body to a place steeped in magic and drew it all in, so much that most sorcerers would have burst, but Reowyn was not most sorcerers. Something about his mixed blood made him stronger. He drew in all the magic he could, and then he committed the second worst crime Drurr can commit: he turned that magic towards the necromantic arts.”
Lorri gasped. From an early age, Drurr children were taught the dangers of necromancy and how it had nearly wiped out their race.
“Reowyn's father rushed to stop him,” Irris continued. “But he was too late. Reowyn had created out of his sister's corpse a monster almost as terrible as himself. He had created a wraith so powerful she could not be unmade.
“Reowyn's father had gathered all of his strongest sorcerers and, seeing his crazed son and the horror that had been his daughter, had no choice but to subdue them both. His daughter could not be destroyed, but the Drurr of old knew many things, and they imprisoned her for all time. The Patriarch should have killed Reowyn, but he could not bring himself to murder his own son, so he was sent to Blackrock, the only prison that could hold such a powerful sorcerer, though none alive today know where to find it.”
Irris sighed. “After that, the last of the Drurr, hounded by the humans, retreated below ground. Reowyn's tale was spread, and it was decreed that no half-Drurr half-human child would be permitted to live again.”
“Reowyn was a monster?” Lorri asked.
“Yes.”
“Are we monsters?”
Irris looked at the child. She found a strange look in her black eyes. “No, child,” Irris said. “What many forget is that it was not the magic or Reowyn’s blood that made him into a monster. He was always one. The death of his sister brought it out. Do either of you feel like monsters?”
“No,” Lorri said quietly. Irris looked at Ehln. The mute girl shook her head.
“Then you're not,” Irris said and hoped it was true. “But our people won't take the chance, which is why we must run. And why we can never go home again.”
“Oh,” Lorri sighed. “I miss home.”
Irris craned her neck around to look over the wall. She spied no one in the field or in the barn, and what little light was left was fading fast.
“Come, children.” Irris grunted as she pushed to her feet. “Let's go remember how it feels to be dry.”
They stole up to the barn in a low crouch. The children followed in Irris' footsteps, mimicking her posture. Irris worried about the pelting of the rain on her armor, yet she wasn't about to remove it. Uncomfortable as it may be, she would keep it on until the children were safe and hidden.
The barn door was bolted from the inside, however there was a window ajar, too small for an adult, but not for a five-year-old girl. Irris pulled Ehln close.
“I'm going to lift you up. Climb through and unbolt the door.”
Putting her back against the door, Irris lifted Ehln and the girl scrambled up, stepping on Irris' hands and shoulders and even her head, then the weight was gone and Irris peered up to see the girl's laced boots disappear through the gap. A few moments later, she heard fiddling at the door, and then a snap just before the door pushed open. Ehln looked triumphant on the other side.
Irris smiled, ushered Lorri inside, and followed them in, shutting and bolting the door behind them.
Taking a moment to appreciate their shelter, Irris let out a happy sigh. The barn was warmer than the open air, and the closer confines made it feel more like home. The surface was a worrisome place when one was accustomed to living underground.
Irris checked the barn quickly. There were eight stalls, and five were occupied by horses and a cow. At the far end was a doorway that led to the farmhouse. Irris could hear faint noises coming from within. She drew away from the doorway and searched the bags, tools, and barrels stacked near the house. There was little of use, but one set of saddlebags idly discarded on a bench held a number of dried leather strips. Irris knew the humans often dried and cured their meats to make them last a little longer and she took them. The twins may not be used to eating such food, but they would have to take whatever they could get if they were to survive.
Picking one of the empty stalls, Irris ushered the children inside and shut the door behind them. She handed each of them a strip of meat and began gnawing on one herself. They
were not the best tasting things, nor the easiest to eat, but they would do.
“If you need to relieve yourselves, use the bucket.” Irris pointed at an empty bucket at the back of the stall.
Settling down against the far wall, she attempted to get comfortable, something next to impossible while wearing her armor. The metal plates were not designed for comfort. They could turn away and stop blades with ease, but they were not the sort of thing one wanted to sleep in; unfortunately, getting the plate on and strapped tight required at least one more person. Irris doubted the twins had the necessary strength. If she took the plate off now, she would not get it on again.
She awoke with a start. Irris didn’t realize she had fallen asleep. The twins were snuggled up tight against her, one on each side, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Lifting her head, she saw three men staring at her. They gasped and stumbled backwards, almost tripping over themselves. They were human and all looked to be related, though one was clearly older than the other two. They all had the same mousey brown hair and thin-lipped mouths.
“She's Drurr,” one of the men, the youngest, said. “Look at her face.”
Irris eyed the men. None of them looked to be a warrior, and she doubted they posed any sort of threat to her, but they could harm to the children. Her sword was still at her side, and that gave her some comfort.
“What do we do, da?” asked of the men. “Should we kill it?”
Irris shook the children awake and rolled to her feet. She heard worried mumbling from the twins as they came around, and saw equally worried mumbling from the humans as they backed away. The oldest man had a cooking knife in his hand, and the youngest bore a crude hammer.
“Those children ain't Drurr,” said the oldest man. “She must'ave stole them.”
Irris could understand their language well enough, but speaking it took effort. Their use of identifiers and possessives was crude at best, as though their understanding of their own language was limited.
“We...will go,” Irris said in her best imitation of the human's speech.
The twins huddled behind her, and Irris put a hand on her sword hilt.
