Kurg stood stiffly over the fallen sorceress, unsure if he'd killed her or not. In truth he didn't care either way. Meanwhile other warriors came running and crowded around him.

"Kurg struck down the sorceress! The Skal has fallen!" They shouted.

Kurg knelt beside Briax and felt for a pulse. It was strange to witness such concern in Kurg for another Morg, but he and Briax were oath-brothers. This vow essentially made kin of those who were not otherwise related.

Culturally the oath was a very old practice, older than Skalhood in fact. Morg often made many enemies, both abroad and at home. Such oaths were a good way to ensure survival, especially now that Morg society was so deeply divided. Vow or not however, Kurg's concern for his Skal was deeper than duty, and none dared interfere, even if some secretly hoped Briax was dead.

"He lives!" Kurg grunted at last.

A warrior-skald by the name of Erex stepped forward and spoke. Skalds were storytellers and singers, respected in their role as entertainers and witnesses to history.

"Was the Sorceress responsible for his wounds? Is that why you struck her down?"

"Of course." Kurg answered plainly.

Whispers and mutterings immediately spread through the group. "Is she dead?" Erex inquired.

"Check her." Kurg ordered, still cradling Briax's head and shoulders. Erex did as he was bid, feeling for her pulse.

"She lives!" He spoke, just as her familiar swooped down through the rain, clawing and biting at his face in a savage attack. Erex shrieked in agony as one of his eyes was plucked from its socket by the Torok's talons! Erex recoiled away, rolling in the mud clutching at his ruined face.

Hissing loudly in challenge, the Torok snatched up Erex's eye its teeth, swallowing it down its long, disjointed neck. It did not linger a moment longer to make an easy target of itself, flying back into the night winds as quickly as it appeared.

"Damned thing!" The Warriors raged, darting forward to lend aid to Erex who writhed in shock and pain. Kurg swiveled his helm, watching the Torok with obvious disdain, though he did not fear it in the slightest.

"Bind the bitch and bring her to me!" He ordered before lifting Briax in his arms like a child, carrying him back into his tent. Two warriors quickly went about binding her hands and feet with leather straps, dragging her inside after him.

Kurg lit another lantern and laid Briax down gently on his fur-laden cot, wiping away the blood from his eyes and mouth with a dampened cloth.

"What will we do with her?" The warriors asked laying Belisheri roughly at his feet.

"That is for the Skal to decide. See that she is gagged and hooded for good measure, than leave us."

The warriors did as they were bid, departing without complaint. The pair of them, Gerik and Algot, returned to the crowd around Erex.

"I'm going to tear that vile creature in half!" Erex cursed in miserable pain, holding a bloody cloth to his eye socket with one hand while the other nursed a jug of Kvasa. Murmurs of support echoed among the group.

"The sorceress won't be able to stop you. Kurg dealt with her as easily as he would anyone else." A warrior named Jorn remarked.

"Kurg says the Skal will decide her fate." Gerik interjected.

"Oh? But she tried to kill the Skal with one of her vile spells? Surely he will order her put to death!"

Gerik shrugged. "Maybe... Our Skal isn't the most predictable sort is he?"

Algot spat to the ground. "We would have been better off he didn't survive. I'm not so sure he's the Skal we should be following."

Tenseness settled on the group, some silently nodding.

"I say we see what happens before we judge him unfit!" Erex said rather unexpectedly.

"Do you really think so?" Algot asked. "You lost your eye because he provoked her!"

"Don't be so sure, we don't know what happened in that tent. I only know this much, sorceresses can't be trusted! There's too much of the demon in them."

"Killing her is no small thing." Algot complained. "Mark my words, following him is not wise. None of us are above the law, especially a Skal who acts like a madman and a rebel!"

"You sound like you left your balls back on Morg Isle Algot. Briax wants to try new tactics. He might be on to something." Erex argued.

"He might still die!" Algot argued. "Blood magic is no easy thing to survive. An uncle of mine lost a hand brushing against a sorceress in a market. He apologized at once, yet she still cast a spell that cursed him. That night, his hand cramped and stopped moving, blackening and stiffening like a corpse. He had to hack it off before it corrupted the rest of his body."

"This whole raid is cursed!" An older warrior named Olaf complained. "As Morg, it is unnatural for us to live anywhere other than our home! We shouldn't follow Briax!"

Erex chuckled. "Funny, I didn't hear either of you speak up earlier when Morul fell."

Algot sneered. "I won't take offense to that in your current condition, but take care!"

Erex snorted and rose to his feet, dropping the bloody cloth from his wound, muscles angrily clenched in both his jaw and his fists as he stepped face to face with Algot, veins tautly visible on his neck and temples.

"I don't care one bit how offended you are in my present condition!" Erex said allowing bloody spittle from his lips to splatter over Algots face as he spoke. Algot took a half step back, clearly unnerved by the gaping mess of his eye socket.

Briax felt consciousness return to him as he vomited up his own blood, the taste of iron thick in his mouth. He wiped away the smears of blood in his eyes and struggled to sit up, assisted by Kurg.

"Where's Belisheri?" He croaked, coughing up more spittle.

"On the floor."

"Alive?" He asked blinking.

"Yes."

"I'm not sure I'm happy to hear that." He groaned

"Shall I finish her?" Kurg asked

"Not yet. She made her point. Now I need to make mine." Briax answered standing on shaky legs. He started to move to his wash-basin once more to clean off all the blood, but then thought better of it, sitting in his chair instead. "Remove her gag and wake her up, but keep her hood and bindings on." He ordered.

Kurg untied her gag, grabbed the pitcher of water beside the washbasin and doused the sorceress with it. Belisheri immediately gasped for breath before uttering several profanities. She clearly was not used to such disrespect.

"Nice try!" Briax said consolingly.

Belisheri turned her head in his direction, but he had little to fear, so long as she could not see him and move her hands freely.

"You are harder to kill than you look, but it makes no difference!" She said bitterly.

"If that's true you should have humored me longer. Why take the onus upon yourself?"

"Duty! Something you clearly care nothing about... Skal!" She retorted mockingly.

"What you call duty is actually obligation through fear. It doesn't have to be that way."

Belisheri chuckled. "You think it makes any difference what you think? You're challenging powers you couldn't possibly understand!"

"I know more than you realize sorceress. You should have let us finish our debate. I'm not the mad fool you think I am."

Belisheri said nothing, merely clenched her teeth together seething with anger. Briax sensed her spiteful nature was stronger than her will to live. She was ultimately too proud to tolerate her situation. The only way he would reason with her is if she chose to do so on her own terms.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Untie her." He said to Kurg.

Kurg hesitated and almost looked like he might refuse. Briax rarely asked his oath-brother to do anything twice. The armored brute had total confidence in his judgement, except when he might be taking too much risk upon himself. This moment almost qualified as something worth refusal, but Kurg himself was here to put hands on her in his defense if he had too; and he was just as confident in his own ability to maim and kill as Briax was in matters of leadership and strategy. Thus, he did as he was bid, though he stood near her and did not take his eyes off her.

Belisheri quickly removed her hood and glared at them both, rubbing the sore marks around her wrists from her bindings before she said. "I'm listening."

"First we have to make peace before the warriors. Fighting between us will hurt morale and create division." Briax said.

She appeared to ponder this for a few moments before she nodded. Together the trio exited his tent into the stormy night once more. Before them, the warriors stood together in an agitated crowd where Erex the warrior-skald and Algot presently faced off. Voices of argument died down as they emerged. All eyes staring at their Skals bloody countenance.

Briax immediately recognized what was happening. He must be quick to assert command before it was too late. "FORM UP!" He shouted with all the authority he could muster, his voice half a gurgle from nearly drowning in his own blood. Erex was the first to march forward, taking a place in formation only a few paces from him. Briax noted his missing eye at once, along with the way his jaw clenched in the presence of the sorceress.

The other warriors fell into formation tensely and more reluctantly than he would like. Algot was the last to fall in, choosing a spot in the rear. Suddenly another screech was heard as the Torok swooped down from the dark to land on Belisheri's shoulder. Erex flinched at the sight of it and Briax quickly deduced what must have happened but he didn't let it interfere with what he had to say.

"The sorceress and I had a disagreement! It was unfortunate, but we are past that now! We must not forget where we are or let our guard down. This is not the time and place for quarrels and lack of discipline!"

Erex started to open his mouth, anger clearly getting the better of him, but Briax was having none of that. "DO NOT SPEAK!" Briax screeched. "I will not tolerate disobedience, is that clear!"

"YES SKAL!" They answered in unison.

"Put this camp in order! Set up guard duty and get a cook fire going! Dawn will soon be upon us and orders will follow!" Briax said matter-of-factly, watching the warriors break formation to go about their business. It took a lot of willpower on his own part not to call out to Erex to remain behind. He wanted to speak with him, but there must be a reckoning with Belisheri first.

After the men broke apart he turned again to the sorceress. "After you..." He said gesturing back towards the tents entrance in a mocking display of local chivalry.

As soon as she turned, Briax glanced at Kurg with a certain look. The brute's gauntlet struck out with shocking speed snatching her familiar around the neck. Its talons clamped into Belisheri's shoulder, alerting her instantly of the danger, but it was already too late. Krug crushed the creature's neck like a worm.

Belisheri ducked and spun, attempting to avoid the brute's next blow with great agility but Briax reacted half a second faster, tackling her back into the tent. They struggled, rolling over the mess he'd already created in their earlier skirmish. Belisheri thought she had the upper hand, managing to free her dagger before he could free his, but Kurg snatched her arm around the wrist, yanking her away from him like a ragdoll.

She struck and kicked at him with her other limbs; solid, skillful strikes to be sure, which simply had no effect. It was maddening the way Kurg stood there, apparently made of solid oak, ignoring her feeble attempts to free herself.

Meanwhile, Briax stood and moved over to the washbasin to finally scrub away the blood from his neck and face. "Your foul familiar half-blinded Erex!" He said angrily, kneeling down to grab the cups and half-spilled jug of Kvasa before righting the table he'd knocked over earlier.

"My familiar was merely protecting me the same way Kurg protected you!"

"You'll have to make amends to Erex personally. I can't be seen to have any favorites; you saw how he and Algot are already at each other's throats."

Belisheri was clearly appalled at the idea of apologizing to a Morg for anything. "Don't presume to give me orders!" She snarled.

"YOU WILL DO IT!" He shouted, losing his temper at last, veins rising in his forehead around the brand. Kurg's grip on Belisheri's arm became painfully tighter until she was forced to nod. "Now sit!" He said looking her straight in the eye after Kurg dropped her into the other chair.

Briax drank deeply from his cup, washing the remaining blood from his mouth and throat. "Let's continue our discussion shall we? We'll start with what we can agree on, such as certain historical facts about our race."

"Historical facts?" She teased. "How amusing, a Skal who fancies himself a shaman."

"You forget how rich my father was. Growing up I wanted for little, tutoring under the wisest and most learned shamans of our land."

Belisheri smirked, amused by his self confidence. Shamans were healers, sages, teachers and arbitrators. Yet the true dark secrets of Morg history were closely guarded by her cult and she knew it.

"Go ahead and speak of history, if you must." She sneered.

"I'm sure you'll agree the origins of our race began right here on Chival, approximately three thousand years ago." He prompted.

Belisheri smirked. "Everyone knows that. Eros the Org, father of our race, roamed this land with other Org tribes."

"And you know why he left?"

"He eloped with his bride, the Khimeran princess Kari, to escape the wrath of her father who was already slaughtering the Org people to find her. Together they crossed the sea and settled on an island called Anatol, occupied by Ahuran colonies from the Kingdom of Croesus in the north."

Briax nodded. "Yes, yes, but what do you know about Kari's people?"

Briax's question caught Belisheri a bit off guard. Morg were not supposed to know anything of Khimeran lore, except for occasional insights they learned from captured Chivalan slaves and plundered spoils. Shamans certainly didn't teach anything about Khimera, knowing the unspoken taboo placed on it by her cult and the Morgons. Her answer was therefore boorishly vague. "Not much is known of Khimera, except that it was defeated by the holy crusade of Pentos a thousand years later."

Briax snorted. "Come now, don't be coy. You know as well as I do what sort of kingdom Khimera was. Its nobles were corrupted and beholden to demons that marched in their armies and shared their beds. Every noble, including Princess Kari, had the taint of demon blood in their veins. Blood that bore dark powers, extraordinary long life, and madness..."

Belisheri's eyes narrowed and her breathing appeared to lose its rhythm. He had certainly surprised her with that statement, his next might push her over the edge, but there was no going back now.

"Org are also quite long-lived, which is how he fathered two races singlehandedly. Eros held Kari in the highest regard there is no doubt, as he did their mutual offspring, the Morgons. We all know he made her his queen after he conquered Anatol. Yet the fact remains she was Khimeran and something was wrong with her womb. All Morgons, then as now, are born male after all. Contrarily, Eros' other children, the Morg, born from his many natural human Ahuran wives, had females as often as males..."

Belisheri interrupted, clearly angry on the verge of lashing out again. "How dare you speak of Kari like that!"

Briax pressed on, changing tact's somewhat. "Don't get me wrong Belisheri, Kari was great, no doubt about that. I'm well aware her teachings are the source of your power. Khimeran lore reveals she was a great sorceress in her own right, perhaps the greatest of her age, which easily makes her one of the greatest of all time! You and others in your cult are sworn to safeguard her dark magic, and her secrets, are you not?"

Belisheri couldn't believe her ears. The fact this lowly Skal dared to speak to her as an equal was one thing, but uttering rumors about her most cherished ancestor with such arrogant familiarity was too much to bear.

"ENOUGH!" Belisheri said attempting to stand before Kurg pressed her back into her seat. Another tense moment hung between them, back-dropped by lashing rain and howling wind buffeting against the walls of his tent. "I will not hear another word about her or whatever you presume to know about my sisters!" She said with a hiss. "I am done listening to your ravings and will not be a part of your plans!"

Briax took in a deep breath. It was time to try a different angle. "Let me ask you Belisheri, what would you be if you weren't a sorceress?"

Belisheri huffed. "I was chosen very young. There's never been a choice."

"You think I have a choice?"

"I think you must have been dropped on your head!"

Briax chuckled. "Perhaps, but the truth is none of us are born with our beliefs. If I had different parents and you weren't chosen to be a sorceress, we'd be living different lives right now."

"So what?"

"Females aren't offered the same opportunities as males. Morg law states you can't marry, lead raids, serve as a Landmaster or Guildmaster..."

Belisheri spit on the table, glaring at him spitefully. "You think I need to hear that from you?"

"Not at all, I think it's wrong." Briax stated plainly. "I appreciate your passion to protect your status as a sorceress. I'm only asking you to open your mind to even bigger possibilities."

Belisheri sighed, losing energy to argue. "Morgons cannot be defeated."

"Morgons die the same as the rest of us. Their deaths aren't widely reported, but they happen. Morg Isle is a dangerous place, even for them."

"I know more about everything that happens on Morg Isle, and the Morgons, than you ever heard of!" She retorted.

Briax leaned forward in his chair. "And I know more about Chival and Khimera than you ever heard of! Thanks to my mother."

Belisheri raised a brow. "Your mother?!"

Briax nods. "Her name was Lilia, a native of this region."

Belisheri leaned back, making half a smile. "Aha! It all makes sense now. You're doing this for vengeance!"

"No I'm not." Briax said reaching for the talisman around his neck.

Belisheri paused, narrowing her gaze. She sensed something was wrong with how he said that, but her curiosity on another topic got the best of her. "What made your mother such an expert on Khimera?"

"Her family has a very old tradition with the church of Pentos, with rare access to their archives. Besides that, not everything in the ancient capital of Khimera was collected by the church during the crusade. Some artifacts eluded them, hidden by her ancestors two thousand years ago."

"What sort of artifacts?" Belisheri asked on impulse.

Briax paused before he answered, unsure if he should reveal this secret to her. He knew it would pique her interest, but there was no way to know how it would motivate her? "Org artifacts." He answered at last.

Belisheri's breath caught in her throat. Org artifacts were among the rarest and most powerful magic items ever created, capable of destroying whole armies and leveling entire cities. "Are you certain?!" She gasped eagerly leaning forward.

"She described them to me in detail. I do believe she actually laid eyes on them, and what's more, she told me how I can find them."

Belisheri's mind raced. Her attitude towards Briax just flipped and left her feeling rather breathless. It made sense for Chival to have Org artifacts given the large number of Org tribes who used to dwell here. It even made sense why Chivalans would hide them instead of using them, given the stigma placed on arcane magic by their church. This was amazing news!

Briax leaned back taking a deep breath. Revealing that secret to a sorceress was a strange feeling. He only hoped he made the right decision.

"It would have saved a lot of trouble if you told me that from the beginning!" Belisheri said after a long moment of silence.

"Would you?"

Belisheri didn't have an easy answer for that. He had a point. "Ok, you have my support." She said begrudgingly.

"Good!" Briax said flashing a rare smile. "Now, how about that toast?"

Belisheri couldn't help but return the smile. "What shall we toast?"

Briax filled her cup and raised his own. "To Lilia!"

At that moment, outside in the wind and rain, ear pressed to the tent, the elderly warrior Olaf swallowed with terrible recognition. This Skal had to be stopped!