Chapter 29

Hammer was using a small hammer to knock the fine steel off the various tools Nameless had collected and was storing them in his pack. He’d told Hammer to leave him his favorite spear. The one Hammer had made for him as it turned out. Hammer thought the ones his father had made might be a bit better, but Nameless said he preferred the one Hammer had made since the slightly wider blade did more damage to large game.

Hammer stored a now handleless shovel in his pack and looked around at the walls. He’d stored all of the good steel in his pack now and had spread the pouches of coin between all three of their packs. He moved on to Nameless’ collection of skins. He grabbed some black leather that he thought might be the last of the death panther, but he shortly discovered that one of the smaller packs on the wall was completely filled with a medium sized piece of death panther pelt as well as some smaller scraps. That was worth some serious money so Nameless would definitely want that. Hmm, I don’t really have too much room left in my pack though after storing all the coin and steel, he thought to himself. Definitely not enough for a whole pack’s worth, even with the oversized pack Nameless had left for him. Hammer ended up just strapping the pack of fur and leather to the back of his own. He lifted it onto his back over his sword and found it wasn’t particularly heavy so he’d just go with that.

He looked around one last time. The walls were fairly bare at this point, Nameless hadn’t kept much made of plain iron aside from the hatchet Hammer had made for him way back when. Hammer left it on its pegs. It was nice, but it wasn’t valuable.

Dog looked at him curiously from where he was laying on the bearskin. Hammer had added enough skins to their packs that they’d have bedding on the road and some extra that they could sell if they needed too, so he was leaving that skin since it was a bit ratty from being slept on for who knows how long.

Guess that’s everything then, he sighed to himself and sat down on the vault’s only chair. It creaked a bit alarmingly under his weight but ultimately held him. He leaned over and blew out the candle, dropping the vault into darkness. Nameless had told him to only leave it lit as long as he needed it while packing, since it could draw the attention of the Califondians even with the vault’s entrance pointing to the northeast away from town. He suddenly felt very alone being out here in the woods. It helped that Dog was here, but still.

He drew his great sword, held it across his knees, and found it made him feel immeasurably more secure. Physically he felt fine, but he was definitely feeling emotionally drained. He’d killed someone today. He’d never forget the way the man’s flesh had effortlessly parted around his sword, sending the man’s head flying through the air. He scared himself a little when he considered how easily he could kill a man. He shuddered and closed his eyes. I hope Father is alright, he thought. He clenched his right fist on the sword’s handle and took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

He didn’t realize he’d fallen asleep until he woke up to Dog growling quietly. He stood up and moved silently to Dog. Crouching down and putting a hand on Dog’s back he could tell he was growling at the entrance. “Shh,” he whispered, and Dog quieted. Nameless had spent the better part of the last year teaching Dog this command. He’d been tired of being constantly woken up, and it had become a necessity. Hammer crouched and listened. He thought he heard something crunching through the woods outside, and then he heard it. Two men were talking to each other softly, and given that Hammer couldn’t understand their language he knew it was Califondians. He stood and leveled the sword at the entrance. The men were drawing closer and closer to the vault. As dark as it was outside it was even darker inside, and he thought he could see their shadowed outlines just outside the brush. One of the men had crouched down and appeared to be examining the ground while speaking softly to the other and gesturing towards the vault. The other man shrugged and started pushing his way carefully through the thorny brush. Just as the man cleared the brush and reached the entry to the vault, Hammer stabbed forward with his blade parallel to the ground. He pierced straight through the man’s skull almost noiselessly, he didn't seem to be wearing a helmet. Hammer hesitated. Now what? he asked himself. He slowly took a large step back and pulled the man inside the vault, hanging from his head on Hammer’s sword. Hammer slowly tilted the sword towards the ground and the man slid off, slumping bonelessly to the ground in a heap. He retook his position at the entry with his sword again poised to stab. He heard the man outside speaking. He assumed he was asking the man Hammer had just killed what was taking him so long, or something to that effect from his tone of voice. The man drew his sword and began pushing his way in as well, and, just as had happened with the first, he took Hammer’s sword clean through his skull. Hammer again quietly pulled him inside and slid him off the blade next to the first man. He once again took up his position with his sword at the ready and heard nothing outside. He didn’t know how long he waited like that, but it seemed the men had been alone. One of the corpses loudly shat itself on the floor of the vault and he nearly vomited at the smell.

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A horrible thought occurred to him. There’s no chance that was Knick and Nameless right? he wondered. So he put aside his revulsion and leaned down to feel at the corpses. Chainmail met his fingers, and he immediately relaxed. Knick wouldn’t be caught dead in armor and Nameless was much smaller than these two. Thank the gods I didn’t kill my friends by accident. Still, they’d been speaking a language Hammer didn’t know so the odds of it being anyone other than Califondians was infinitesimal. He wiped off his blade in the dark using one of the soldier’s cloaks and then sat back down on the creaky chair with his sword once more on his knees. He didn’t fall asleep this time. If the adrenaline running through his system hadn’t been enough to keep him awake the smell certainly would have been.

Then he heard Dog chewing on one of the corpses, and he nearly vomited again. He thought about stopping him but ultimately came to the conclusion that the poor animal hadn’t been fed since morning, and who knew when he’d get his next meal. He left Dog to it, but had to swallow bile on a few occasions when he heard the sound of tearing flesh.

He didn’t know how long he sat there in the dark. With no moon, he had little to judge the passing of time except for the chewing noises Dog made, but even that noise shortly quieted, and Dog laid down at his feet with a happy sigh as he seemed to drift off to sleep, breathing slowly and rhythmically.

Hammer never heard them arrive, even though he was paying attention. A familiar voice suddenly pierced the night, albeit quietly. “Hey Hammer, I smell a corpse. Say something so I know it’s not yours.” Came Nameless’ voice from outside.

“I’m fine. You can come in, but if you think the smell is bad out there you have no idea.” He was surprised by how calmly it came out of his mouth. He saw their outlines briefly as they entered, but once they were inside he immediately lost them in the darkness.

“Whoa, you got two, huh? Good job. I didn’t see anybody else in the area so these must have been scouts they had out looking for us. Hmm, maybe they tracked us from the hut? I was bleeding pretty good so it’s definitely possible…Ew, you fed ‘em to Dog? I mean I know he hasn’t eaten all day, but…ew. That’s seriously gruesome looking.”

“I can’t see shit,” said Knick.

“Me neither, and I’ve been sitting in here in the dark for what feels like hours,” responded Hammer.

Nameless just snorted in amusement. “Lucky you. I may have nightmares about these guys. That shit is brutal.” Hammer heard some rustling. “Here’s your pack Knick.” Hammer stood up and grabbed his own pack and slung it over one shoulder. “We’re heading north through the woods for a day, and then we’ll take the road the rest of the way. Oh, Hammer, here’s your gauntlets and hammer as requested. You’ll need to wash the blood off the hammer though. Your dad was still holding it when I found his corpse. Judging by the look of the smithy he killed a lot of people with a hammer in each hand until they finally took him down, that’s one of ‘em.” Hammer felt a pack pushed up against him and he reached inside to find his gauntlets wrapped in his cloak alongside a sticky smithing hammer. Hammer set down his pack, put on the gauntlets, slid the hammer through his belt, and threw the cloak around his shoulders before putting his pack back on. He didn’t know if a cloud had opened up in the sky outside, but he felt like he could actually see a bit better all of a sudden. It was still only vague outlines but it wasn’t the pitch black it had been a minute ago. He could just make out Nameless looking around and nodding to himself. “Alright guys let’s do it.” He grabbed his spear, turned, and headed out of the vault as they followed him.

The rest of the night was them jogging quickly and quietly through the woods in Nameless’ wake. Dog would sometimes run ahead a bit and then would drop back beside Nameless or Hammer as they ran. I can’t believe Nameless is running like this with his leg all cut up, Hammer thought to himself.