Deathsworn Arc: 01 - The Last Dragon Slayer

by Martyn Stanley

  Saul strode over to him, “You speak in riddles gravian... What do you mean?”

  Before Brael could answer Votrex stepped forward, “Lady Elf - will this man recover his senses? What is his fate if we do allow him to go free?”

  Vashni shook her head, “No, I have destroyed his mind... He may recover slightly, given time and patience it may be possible to teach him simple tasks. I suspect talking or forming an opinion will be forever beyond him though.”

  Silus shuddered at her casual description of the poor wretch’s fate, “Urgh! You can do that to a man? Have you no compassion?”

  Vashni shook her head, “I will not allow anyone to bed me against my will. I warned him the consequences; it seemed he didn’t believe me - now he has paid the price.”

  Harald stepped forwards now, “How far is it to Briem? If it’s not far we should take him and hand him over to the Berger. We should also check to see what ill-gotten gains the bandits have hidden here...”

  Silus grinned, “I like your thinking Northman, they do the crime, we put their ill-gotten gains to good use.”

  Harald scowled, “That was not what I had in mind - we should return anything we find to the Berger of Briem and see if he can distribute them amongst others who have been robbed.”

  Korhan throughout this conversation felt like he was reduced to merely standing and listening, feeling so under Vashni’s control was making him feel increasingly uncomfortable and he started to consider ending their agreement, thus far he felt like she’d made little to no progress in training his mind to be more resistant to attack. At the back of his mind though, his deep attraction to her, despite her outright rejection of him, made him yearn to stay close to her.

  Vashni began walking around the camp, leaving Korhan standing alone in darkness. Eventually she stopped and pointed at a wagon parked between two huts, “There, I discovered their stash while invading Gedric’s mind... If you pull the wagon forwards, there is a chest buried under dry leaves in a hole underneath it.” Brael, Votrex and Silus walked over and started pushing, at the same time Harald took Korhans arm and led him to the cart to pull. In a count of three they moved the cart and Silus barely saved himself from tumbling into the well concealed hole. Silus, Brael and Harald dug the dead leaves off the top and clambered into the hole. Sure enough a large iron bound chest was at the bottom. Slowly the trio hauled the huge wooden box up and out of the hole.

  The box was locked of course, Saul initially wanted to brew a potion which would destroy the lock, Silus suggested searching the bandits and Harald offered to smash the lock off with his battle axe. While they were debating it though, Vashni leaned close to the lock and whispered into the keyhole on the padlock - which then fell open.

  Saul pushed the lid up and they all peered inside. It seemed the bandits had mainly enjoyed meagre pickings. A few tiny items of jewelry languished at the bottom of the box, along with mainly copper coins, with the odd silver. There were one or two gold pieces, but the total value of the contents appeared to be less than the gold Saul was carrying with him. Harald looked at the contents and sighed deeply, “Hah! It seems our friends here were not the most successful criminals in Torea.”

  Saul shook his head, “No... It seems not, given the hard times the Empire has fallen on - you wonder how committed these fools were to their criminal life? Were they criminals? Or merely farmers whose crops had failed and needed a way to feed their families? Perhaps those corpses lying face down in the dirt are husbands, or fathers... Who will never return and their families will wonder what job it was they were doing that brought home a few coppers, but was so secretive? Maybe their families will believe they have abandoned them, simply because they can no longer afford to look after them.”

  Silus glared at him, “They tried to kill us wizard!”

  Saul raised an eyebrow, “Did they? They could have killed us on the road I suspect. I suspect they merely wanted to rob us, out of greed, criminality... Or desperation?”

  Korhan, still blind, tracked the sound of the conversation and cut in, “And what of Vashni? Would you allow them to ravage her on a whim?”

  Saul stood up,”Only the leader made that choice and in truth maybe he, like so many had a hatred of the magical races... and felt Vashni, as an elf, should not be afforded the rights and respect that should be afforded a human woman... Though in his case I believe he was a genuinely evil man... Life, morality, right and wrong... these things can be complex. We make our choices, we kill when we have to... But I suspect it is often the case, that we kill those who do not deserve it, simply out of necessity.”

  Harald nodded at this, “Tis true... Many a brave and honourable man has died on the battlefield - simply because he was on the other side.”

  Vashni sighed, “It is true, Gedric was a genuinely foul and vile man, cruel, greedy - unable to empathize... I know, I have been inside his mind. Yet as I know this, I also know he is a product of circumstances. His father died of the pox when he was but a child... His mother took in another man who abused her, and beat him - he had no empathy, and that is what Gedric learned, to take what you require in life through violence and to never consider the feelings of others...”

  Silus sneered at her, “So he’s an innocent man?”

  “No, he was an evil man, he was responsible for his actions. However there were factors which shaped him, moulded him into that evil man... Of course others may have resisted these influences...”

  Harald gestured towards the other corpses lying in the leaves, attracting flies, “And what of these poor wretches? Did they deserve to fall under the sword?”

  “I do not know, from what was in Gedric’s head I suspect not... These men had fallen on hard times; most were uncomfortable with the situation... Some simply followed Gedric’s lead... We should not dwell on it; I believe we should act within the confines of morality, but that we should be mindful of sacrificing our lives for principle. We were justified in ending these rogues’ lives, despite the circumstances of their turn to crime, they made that choice, they were criminals.”

  Saul spoke, “Criminals who died with no trial or sentence, who may have hated themselves for making this choice.”

  Vashni shrugged, “They had a trial by combat... I pity them, but I would not allow myself to suffer hurt at the hands of bandits simply because I agonized over the chain of events that had inspired them to become criminals... As for Gedric - let us take him to Briem, and let the Berger decide how to deal with him, and the rather pitiful hoard of their ill-gotten gains.”

  The warriors hauled the chest onto the back of the tatty wagon that had been used to cover the hole where the treasure was buried. The bandits appeared not to have had horses. After a final search of the bandit camp revealing nothing of interest or value they roped the cart to two of the horses, deposited the now mindless ‘Gedric’ on the cart and set off.

  Progress was slow with the cart roped behind Harald and Silus steeds. Korhan took up his usual place, a short distance behind Vashni, allowing her to lead his horse. As the wind drew up and the shadows started to grow longer, Korhan urged his horse to a trot until he felt he was alongside Vashni. The ride had been hard, he’d tried to focus on using his hearing and his smell to sense his surroundings, but fear, fear and anxiety had gotten in the way. He began to resent his being at the mercy of the elf. He still liked her, and found her intriguing beyond compare... But being reduced to blindness in order to teach him some sort of lesson was pushing the bounds of his tolerance to unfound levels.

  He leaned closer, “Mir§a Vashni, have not I endured this torment for long enough? Can you please allow me to open my eyes again?”

  She chuckled at this, “Ri§ine Korhan, you have spent barely two hours in darkness - how can you expect to learn anything in that time? I think you need to learn to appreciate your sense of hearing as well, because you take it so for granted and do not seem to value it. Your ability to detect the source of sound can save your life... Lean closer to me that I
might whisper in your ear, I have decided to remove your sense of hearing also... Let you focus on your sense of smell, and the feeling of your horse under your thighs, your reins in your fingers...”

  “Mir§a Vashni, please!”

  “No questions remember? You wish me to train your mind and help you to grow, I shall - but I will do as I see fit to facilitate this. I shall not beat you for questioning my methods, but I shall not attempt to teach you if you are not willing to undergo my training regime. Now, would you like me to restore your sight and end our Mir§a, Ri§ine relationship? Or do you consent to progressing to my next lesson?”

  “Mir§a Vashni, I am not ready! Without my sight I feel too vulnerable, almost helpless.”

  “You need to learn another lesson then Ri§ine, you need to learn to trust and rely on others at times. In this instance you need to learn to trust me... While you are helpless, I shall look after you, I will allow no harm to come to you... Do you consent to proceed?”

  Part of him wanted to scream no and to end this torture immediately. However another part of him understood what she was trying to teach and he could already identify improvement, his mental acuity was getting stronger. He felt like being without sight had allowed him to know himself better. His thoughts had drawn deeper within himself, without the distraction of his surroundings. After a brief pause he leaned closer, “Mir§a Vashni - I consent to proceed... But I am afraid...”

  She giggled softly, “Good, do not worry, I will care for you while you are helpless... §hui abelk o§u §inair§a orao Ri§ine, abelk o§u §inair§a orao...”

  As she finished her hypnotic sounding whisper, Korhan heard the sounds of the forest die down to nothing. It was surreal, being in the saddle, plunged into utter darkness, and now total silence. It wasn’t such that his hearing was muffled, but more than it simply did not exist. The thing that surprised Korhan further was that he could sense more than he would have guessed. The vibration of the horses hooves clip clopping on the ground, the gentle tug on his horse by Vashni, the wind on his face. He could feel himself rise and fall with the hips of his horse, through that, and the vibration he felt like he could feel the very structure of the horse, its skeleton and muscles working together.

  All these things were felt, but at the same time he suddenly felt very alone and very vulnerable. Being blind had been one thing, but now being without hearing also took the loneliness to a new level. He also found his sense of balance encumbered, and despite being an accomplished horse rider since childhood, he wobbled in his saddle several times and struggled to maintain good composure.

  The others would cast a glance back to Korhan and Vashni at times, often shaking their heads. Even those who did not fear and distrust the elf found it uncomfortable to watch, a mighty warrior, a truly great swordsman being guided around by a slender, slight female elf... Harald turned to Silus, “Hmmph! Look at him! It’s demeaning... and embarrassing! I cannot understand his motivation for allowing her to do this to him.”

  Silus sniggered, “Thinking with his loins I shouldn’t wonder... Though I cannot see why he would even trust her - let alone find her attractive.”

  If Vashni heard this she did not respond.

  They rode for some time in silence, each rider deep in thought. Korhan deeper than any others, he found himself analysing his horse’s movements through how it felt to ride. Through this, he gradually gained a more intimate understanding of how ‘horse riding’ worked. He even felt he could almost sense the mind of the horse. This was something Vashni hadn’t mentioned. Its mind was sharp, alert, but at the same time simple. He could feel an air of trust; the horse trusted its rider and the rider leading it along - Vashni. It niggled a little over it’s wounded flank, which though healed was sore. It was another alien experience; the horse appeared to have no words in its head, simply wordless feelings, instincts...

  Throughout the ride, Gedric sat curled up on the cart, drooling, rocking back and forth and looking vacant and baffled. His mind was shattered. He too could not form words, even in his head. Even basic, wordless thoughts were difficult to for him to form, whenever he attempted to form a thought, it fell apart into nothingness - so complete was Vashni’s destruction of his mind.

  Vashni appeared to be in a carefree, almost jovial mood considering her recent narrow escape. She gave the impression of one who was finding life very amusing, constantly smiling, a smile that suggested mirth rather than pure happiness. The fact was she was happy, the frivolity of elves, and their long lives coupled with their formidable mental skills meant when they did experience a traumatic event, they could deal with it effectively and move on. In Vashni’s case she had more or less stored the memories of being attacked by Gedric, and the twisted phantasms experienced while charging into Gedric’s mind. They were stored neatly away, not erased, but such that accessing them required a conscious effort.

  The fact that Vashni had found a new challenge, a new avenue of life to explore made her happy too. She had decided to try to teach Korhan the mental skills that all elves were taught from birth. It was a difficult task, other elves would have said it was not possible - Vashni relished the challenge. A large part of her thought it was impossible too, but this added to her enthusiasm for attempting it. She did think if her training went well, maybe she could even teach Korhan some basic, very basic whispers... It would be risky, and as things stood she could not imagine him in the position where it seemed sensible to try - but that was her goal. Of course, the forthcoming battle with the dragon was something to look forward to as well. Knowing what little she knew of draconis nobilus, and knowing the abilities of their party, she expected them all to be killed. Her plan was simple, try to assist them; if all was lost and the rest of the party was dead she would whisk herself and her Ri§ine away.

  The Town of Briem

  Being so robbed of his senses Korhan found it hard to keep track of time. Around him the shadows grew longer and longer and they covered several leagues. When they eventually drew near to Briem Korhan had no idea how long had transpired or where they were. Votrex was riding at the head of the column, alongside Saul, he pointed at the intricate, but weathered and damaged stonework that made up part of the town wall, “This stonework does not look like human work... Do what do you know of this place Saul?”

  “Twas a small elven town, a long time ago. The elves abandoned it as they did almost all their settlements, a short time after humans migrated from the East. You can tell its elvish work - if you look at the carvings and the wall, you cannot see the seam between the blocks. It has the appearance of the whole wall section being carved from one block of stone.”

  “Hmmm, impressive... I’d be interested to know how it is done, no offence Saul - but human stonework is rough and of poor quality... At least most of it is. Good dwarvish stonework is incredibly precise; our seams are so tight you cannot pass a pin between them... But...”

  “I suspect this stone was worked with magic rather than tools Votrex... If you’re really interested you should ask Vashni.”

  Votrex glared back at her and snorted, “Hmmmph, I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction!”

  At that point Vashni’s horse trotted alongside, leading Korhans behind her, “Master wizard... I wish to spend some time alone with my Ri§ine... Give me your coin purse and I will secure rooms at the inn while you take the others to see the Berger.”

  Saul raised an eyebrow at her, she sighed, somewhat deflated, “I do not intend to cheat you out of your coin... I am trying to be... Helpful? If you do not wish to give me your purse, give me two gold coins, I will secure a room for you, Silus, Harald, Brael and Votrex and a room for myself and my Ri§ine.”

  “So... You’ve decided to take him to your bed...”

  Vashni laughed out loud at this, “No silly... He will sleep on the floor - in front of the door to my room, ensuring my safety and privacy.”

  “Lady Vashni, I cannot understand why Korhan is allowing you to treat him the way you are treating him. I
will be honest, it concerns me that you may have enchanted him in some way, or bound him to your will by magical means.”

  Vashni rolled her eyes at this, “Korhan has identified my ability to... Improve him... The way I treat him is my price, he accepts that price. I give you my word Saul Karza, no enchantments are necessary or in place. Korhan is my Ri§ine by choice and choice alone.”

  “Hmmm, I will have to take your word for it mistress elf.”

  She smirked at this, “Yes... You will... Now, the coin?”

  Saul took a handful of silver and copper coins and one gold coin and held them out to Vashni, who took them and deposited them in her pocket. By this point they were approaching the stone archway, half of it built by the elves, half of it built by human hands. Two shabbily dressed town guards, bearing blunt halberds and rusty, tarnished armour stood outside, but made no attempt to bar the way or even inspect the riders.

  As they passed through the mismatched arch Vashni led Korhan’s horse off to a large ruined elvish building, which had been repaired and patched up with human technology. The inn was called, ‘Freais Folly’ an unusual name for an inn to say the least. There were stables outside, which appeared to be fairly intact elvish stonemasonry, but with a rougher, human made clay tile roof. When the horses drew to a halt, Korhan had no idea where they were or what was happening. Fearing another bandit ambush he tried to sit still in the saddle, though quivered slightly. Vashni dismounted in her usual weightless and elegant fashion, pulled up her hood to hide her elven features, then walked to Korhan and placed a hand on his thigh - making him jump a little. She then projected an image into his head of where the horses were, and the courtyard and the stables. It was clear to Korhan what the test was. She was testing his ability to use only his spatial awareness to tie up the horses, without the aid of his sense of sight or hearing.