I awoke to a chill morning as the forest sprung to life with the rising sun. My self-appointed teacher, as of last night, sat in the same spot, unmoving and silent. His wrapped face remained still, and it was unclear whether he was asleep or not. Urax, on the other hand, had left his bedding and was already busy feeding the fire sizeable sticks with one hand, while rubbing his face with the other.
With a yawn, I began my daily scouring of the surroundings for edible greens.
"What are you up to, lad?" Urax asked from his seat.
"Looking for breakfast," I answered without taking my eyes off the greenery around, moving pluming ferns aside to uproot some bitter root.
"You mean you eat that stuff?" Urax chuckled in surprise. "...thought it was pig's feed if anything." He shook his head, "Leave it, lad, you're with us now. We'll keep you fed."
From within a large leather backpack, with pockets and metal buckles, he pulled out a black kettle that looked small in his meaty hand. He placed it atop the fire and pointed at the rill.
"Go fetch some water with that pot of yours, and get it over here. I'll cook us up some grub!"
I went to grab my chipped pot, still holding the bitter root I had dug up.
"...and drop that bollocks already, I'm not letting it ruin my oats!"
I reluctantly did as he said. That ‘bollocks’ had kept me alive for the past few days; it felt wrong just chucking it aside. But once I had poured fresh water into the pot, and Urax poured golden brown oats into the bubbling water from a brown sack, all thoughts of wild greens and snails washed out of my head. The porridge didn't taste of much, but it was thick and warm, and filling.
Once we were done eating, I took it upon myself to clean the bowls and the kettle in the rill, scrubbing them with water and moss. Being of use to these two doesn't seem like such a bad idea, at least as long as they keep me fed, I thought, as I splashed a handful of cold water on my face to clear the last of the night from my eyes.
When I returned, Yarelic was up. He was standing near the road with his back turned, but I could still see the faint light of blue swivel around his head. Clearly, he was busy.
"We'll break off from the road and head north..." he said in his usual nasal tone without turning. "...there's a colony not far."
Urax, who had just shoved dirt atop the fire, grabbed his backpack and axe and readied to leave camp. "Same ones that's been pestering the farmers around here, right?"
"Most likely," Yarelic shrugged, still not turning. "Young one, you're coming with. But stay close to Urax just in case, you hear?"
The question bubbled up before I had a chance to put one and one together. "Where are we going?"
"Are your ears just for show, boy? North!" Urax laughed, pointing towards the dense forest on the other side of the road with his axe.
And so I grabbed my things and followed the two men northward.
"So, how come you're out here hunting ratmen?" I asked, as we trekked through the forest underbrush.
"The rattar-ilk have been pestering wheat deliveries from nearby villages to the town of Karham..." Urax explained. "...The ruling house didn't care to send their own men into the wilderness, and so they sent out a few of us mercenaries to have a look about instead..." He counted the fingers on his free hand a few times over, "...In all, I think about twenty folks like us are hunting through the woods. But most keep to searching further east."
"Seventeen," Yarelic added from the front, again without bothering to turn.
"I said 'about', you pedantic pile of bo..." He stopped himself mid-sentence, and coughed nervously.
"Bones?" Yarelic filled in, still not turning. His cloak almost floating through the high grass as he continued forward.
"You think of me that malnourished, old friend?" His voice, dry as usual, carried with it a hint of amusement.
Urax didn't respond, but his brow wrinkled deep and his ears shone with a glistening red as he hacked away at an innocent branch blocking the way. He mumbled and clomped on while I turned my questions towards the mystic.
"Where is Karum?"
"To the south..." Yarelic answered, "...and it's KarHAM."
"Is that where you learned magic?"
"No, it's just a rural town like any other."
I kept close behind him as I felt questions overflow from a hungry void of curiosity deep within. Where, what, why, when, how!? As I barraged Yarelic with trivialities, he sighed and answered with dwindling patience.
"Yes, we are getting paid, in silver..." "...we are older still..." "...no, I'm not allergic to oats."
After a good while, he finally stopped and turned towards me. "Listen, young one, I decided to take you in for teaching simply because it would be an insult to those who once lectured me to let such a young talent slip. We have work to do, and I don't need this drivel of yours to rot my brain while we're at it!"
His face was close enough for me to feel the warm breaths filtering through the woolen cloth. The smell was, if anything, foul.
"I will teach you once we're done here, but right now..." He silenced, as a blue flicker appeared above his covered right eye. "We're close, and they're on the move."
Urax, who had taken the lead as we conversed, snapped out of his thoughts and eyed the surroundings. "The wind has turned, they must have picked up our scent."
A thin shimmering shard of ice took form above Yarelic's left shoulder, hovered in cool anticipation with his whispers.
"Stay between me and the big oaf, young one!" he ordered, "...and if one of them gets too close, remember last night. Consider this your first lesson!"
The first one appeared from above with a shrill shout, as it leapt down from a tree to take Urax by surprise. But before it reached him, an icicle had embedded itself deep into the fur-covered chest and sent the beast tumbling and gurgling, all while blood spewed from its mouth. Several more came running, some sporting nasty clubs, others spears of wood and stone. A few began launching fist-sized stones our way, but a sudden shimmer of bright blue encapsulated the three of us, as the stones bounced off with crackling thumps. Yarelic stood, gesticulating and whispering, as shards of ice flew through the blue shimmer and met death on the other side. Their projectiles couldn't get through the shield; his could.
Urax howled and laughed, and with a mighty sprint, he met the ratmen face on. Three of them perished as his axe swung wide, cleaving and maiming with surprising ease. Unexpectedly, just as he clashed with the first group, another wave of angry chatter came rushing from the side. And while Urax's whirling steadily pushed him through the rough dozen grim beasts swarming around him, it also brought him further away from me and the busy sorcerer.
"Yarelic!" I yelled, my chest feeling tighter with every hasted heartbeat, and my thoughts spinning, as a handful of furious ratmen closed in, their eyes bulging and mouths frothing.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
"Handle it!" He so kindly yelled back, before resuming his whispering and the rain of hand-sized ice needles he let fly between the trees towards his dwindling opposition.
My heart beat so loud I could hear it inside my head as I whispered forth a glowing ball. Like a stone, I threw it, and with a meek sizzle, it dissipated mid-air.
"It's not working!" I shouted, my heart threatening to explode through my chest, as the beasts rushed ever closer.
"Not like that..." Yarelic rebuked, "...put some wind behind it, let it fly!"
Wind? Not sure what he meant, there was no time to think it through, and I conjured fire anew.
"Please, wind, send it forth..." I whispered, trying my best to feel the soft breeze around me, "...please!"
I took aim at the first crazed rattar, now only steps away, and hurled the ball towards the screeching creature. It flew with great vigor, and the resulting blast threw the ratman backwards. It yelped and shouted as flames erupted from its scorched flesh, and the stench of burnt hair filled the glade.
The nausea I felt was quickly pushed aside by panic, as its friends neared, and again I took aim and threw a glowing orb at the one closest. It too fell smoking to the ground, engulfed in a fiery blaze. Unfortunately, it was a fruitless success. They were almost upon me now, and I readied as they raised their arms mid-step to strike. As I fumbled to gather heat in my hand for a third time, fearing the nearing end, a wave of biting cold struck my back.
Not aimed at me, the chill passed and froze the moss beneath my feet as I stumbled backwards. The three ratmen that remained, instantly froze into glistening statues of pure ice, their bodies cruelly encapsulated within. Yarelic's voice was filled with scorn as he leaned over me where I sat, sweat dripping from my temples onto frosted leaves.
"I knew I wouldn't have to teach you to harvest other elements. They are practically throwing themselves at you!"
He turned his attention to the frozen beasts before us, angrily whispering, and as he did, they shattered.
Urax stomped into the glade, blood dripping from his face. "A nice lil' skirmish, don't you agree!"
But before neither me nor Yarelic had the chance to respond, golden strings began rolling and dancing across the forest floor from the corpses around me, coiling up my leg and disappearing into my chest. The warmth was like nothing I had ever felt before, and unlike previous times, my mouth filled with a victorious sweetness. Like that of dried fruit or honey.
The two men stood stumped and watched as I stood up on shaky legs.
"Care to explain what you just did, young one?" Yarelic asked, while Urax walked over to have a closer look at the fallen, his eyebrows raised.
"I...I don't know..." I struggled, unsure how to explain the sensation, "...it's happened a few times now. Do you know what it is?"
"No..." Yarelic answered, his voice curious as he seemed to gaze at me through the cloth, "...but it's puzzling alright."
Urax walked over and put a bloodied hand on my shoulder. "Well, I don't know much about these arts of yours, but the job ain't done yet, we have a burrow to clear out. Any clue in what direction?"
He aimed the question at Yarelic, who immediately began whispering, the usual blue hue about him.
"Just up north, there are more awaiting us," he turned to face me, still with a blue shimmer floating around his head. "We'll talk more about this little mystery of yours, later."
And then he took to leading us onwards.
We continued forward, through thick bush and down into an old riverbed. I could feel Yarelic turn every now and then to glance at me. It was an unsettling change. Urax seemed less spooked by what had happened, but on the other hand, the man was covered in blood from head to toe, perhaps I ought to be the one worrying.
It didn't take long for us to reach the burrow as it sat, gaping open, at the foot of a mound of rock and mud. Two ratmen with graying furs and stumped tails hissed at us as we neared. One of them slunk back into the dark hole, while the other charged. Futile as it was, considering it quickly met its end by Urax's sharp steel.
Yarelic placed himself at the entrance. Panicked screeching and yelping reached us from within, as he began his whispering. The voices, if one could call them that, were lighter, more frail, and poured out of the burrow in a horrid choir.
"They seem so many, are they echoes?" I asked while swallowing hard, trying to keep nausea at bay.
Urax shook his head, "The rattar-ilk spawn like true pests. Looking at how many grown males there were, there must be a hundred females and small ones in there."
I swallowed again, just as Yarelic sent waves of shearing wind and cold into the gaping depths.
"Be glad we don't have to go in there to do the work, lad!" Urax said with a chuckle, patting my shoulder in an attempt at comfort.
But as the screeching inside escalated, and the death-wails from uncountable creatures reached out in desperation, I lost the desperate battle with my gut, and promptly and violently relinquished my breakfast. As I heaved, Urax laughed, and the deathly screams crescendoed.
Once Yarelic had finished, and the screeching had died down, we began the trek back towards the road. The slim sorcerer looked drained and slumped as we wandered. Urax, however, continued on without a worry in the world, while I tried to wrap my mind around what we had done.
"Don't worry about them pests!" Urax boomed from the front, steadily clearing the way through the underbrush, "...you did good!" He bent a stubborn branch aside. "First time I gutted a man, I was ill for a week..." he laughed, "...couldn't get a morsel down my gullet, or a blink of sleep!"
He turned to face us with a dull smile, but before he could revel further in memories, his expression changed and he shouted, "Behind!", but it was too late. The lone beast that had snuck up from its hiding place sunk its spear deep into Yarelic's back. And with a shriek filled with rage and grief, it continued to launch itself towards me.
Claws stretched out in fury, it squealed triumphantly, then just as suddenly as it had fallen upon us, it stopped. The bulging eyes bulged further, and the raging flurry came to a halt as it shuddered.
It wasn't Urax charging closer that had it frozen in fear, nor was it Yarelic's doing as he kneeled on the ground in silence, with the wooden shaft sticking out from between his ribs. Instead, the ratman's eyes were fixed on the lush earth in front of me. With the sun at my back, my shadow spread towards the bewildered beast, and within, something stirred and swirled. A pair of glittering, deep yellow eyes appeared, grew to the size of palms as my shadow shifted and bulged, then Urax was upon the ratman.
He threw himself atop it and pinned the beast to the ground. Then he pulled a dagger from his belt and tore through its throat with the polished blade. A fountain of blood spewed from its mouth as it died.
"You alright there, boy!?" The large man panted while wiping his face with his tunic.
I looked down at my shadow, which showed no sign of what had just happened, and confused, I nodded. I must be tired, it has been a maddening day after all, I comforted myself.
"Mind giving me a hand, old friend?" a sarcastic, dry voice to my side sighed.
To my surprise, Yarelic had raised his head, and he sounded neither dying, nor even in pain.
"Are you alright?" I asked. And as easy as if he had been removing a splinter, Urax walked over and pulled the spear from his friend's back. There was no blood, I noted.
"I... I mean, how!?" I asked in sheer bafflement.
"I'll tell you when you tell me how it is you have a shadow about you that's not your own, young one," he answered tiredly.
"I... but... you... I don't know."
Urax looked at me with a raised brow. "Shadow?"
But before I could even attempt to explain what I had seen, Yarelic interrupted with a chuckle, and then he broke out into muffled laughter.
"Figures!" He cried out, raising his arms in disbelief.
And that was that.
"Seems like you're the only one here without secrets, old friend," Yarelic said as Urax, bathed and cleanly clothed once again, sat down to polish his axe by the fire.
The sun had barely begun its descent, but after the day's adventure, we had decided to rest early. I huddled under my blanket with a warm mug of goat's milk spiced with clove and honey. Urax, brutish as he was, sure held a soft spot for good eating and drinking. Though the milk had begun souring, and clumps of white bobbed inside, the sweet, mellow drink washed away much of the day's dread.
"You're well on your way to becoming a full fledged mercenary, lad, you did well today!" Urax teased as he took a deep gulp from his own mug, droplets pouring into his beard.
"...and a more interesting disciple than one might have expected," Yarelic added from his usual spot.
"You're quite the compelling company yourselves!" I smiled back at them. Though the day had been punishing, terrifying at times, and filled with death, something felt like it just clicked in the back of my head in their presence.
The two laughed in response.
"Guess we're even on the silver now, old friend," Yarelic added with a bitter tone. "Did you get the ears of the males?" he aimed the question at Urax, who nodded in response.
"Ears?" I asked, confused.
"We take the ears to the guild, that's how we get paid..." the big man explained, "...two silver a beast."
"But I took no ears!?" I cried out in disappointment.
The two men laughed again, and Yarelic looked up from under his hood. "And let that be your second lesson, young one!" and then they laughed again.
We sat and talked until late, processing the day's hunt while Urax went into gruesome detail. Haunting as the images were, it was the sounds that later plagued my dreams. Yet, in spite of that, I slept heavily and well, accompanied and engulfed by a deep, warming darkness that purred and cleansed my mind from ill.