“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Why would I know how to do that?” Darri responded gruffly and unconvincingly. He picked up his pace, moving even further away from the longhouse and any stray ears. “Was that all?”
“Wait, Darri,” Valentin hastened to catch the boy. “I get that you aren’t supposed to talk about it, but I need your help.”
“I can’t help you.” Darri was no longer looking at Valentin.
Valentin debated revealing to Darri just a portion of his secret. Their increased speed meant that they would reach the temple within a few minutes and that would be the end of their conversation. He bit his lip in deliberation, anxiety clouding his judgment with thoughts of pain and betrayal.
The boy clenched his fists and attempted to inspire bravery within. “I’m favored too, Darri, and I’m tired of living like this.”
Darri stopped walking and Valentin almost ran into his massive back. He turned to face Valentin and looked down at him with discerning eyes. “The stone glowed?”
Valentin nodded. “I had to flee before I was trained so I have no idea how to use it. Can you use your ability, Darri?”
Darri looked up and down the trail and saw no other souls besides the two of them. He leaned towards Valentin and lowered his voice but his voice was already so impossibly deep that it still carried through the forest like an avalanche. “As long as you don’t tell anyone that I told you how to do it. I must be seen as unfavored for as long as necessary.”
Valentin nodded his head vigorously with a wide grin plastered on his face. “Of course, of course. I knew I could count on you, Darri.”
“I can only explain it to you the best I can, the rest is up to you.” Darri took a step back from Valentin and straightened his posture. He placed both his hands on his chest. “To start out, you need to focus inside of you. You’ll feel it spark and bubble and then focus on that feeling.” He moved his right arm and got into a fighter’s stance. “It takes an infuriating amount of time to find it the first time. But, once you feel you have a good grasp on the feeling, you force it into the body part that you want to use.”
“When you are ready to use it, release it into your movement,” Darri instructed and pulled his right arm backwards to throw a punch. Little strikes of lightning crackled along Darri’s sleeve as his arm catapulted forwards at impossible speeds. A small booming sound assailed Valentin’s ears and a strong wind hit him.
Valentin stared at Darri in awe. That was the power he had been looking to harness, what would allow him to protect himself. “That’s incredible.”
Darri looked pleased with himself to finally be able to show off his abilities. He puffed out his chest and pointed his face towards the sky. “If you think a punch is impressive, you should see what a weapon in my hand can do. Those smug faces would be cleaved through,” he grinned smugly before his face turned into a sigh. “Unfortunately I can only do that a few times a day before it becomes too much for my body.”
Valentin had heard the stories plenty of times. The devastation that happens to a body that overexerts its favor. The Great Spirit brutally punishes all that overuse the power that had been imbued within a person’s blood. Limbs burst, hearts stop, blood seeps out of ears and mouths. It is why the instruction of use are forbidden to be taught to children and those that are unfavored. They were told countless times through parables that curious children and overly ambitious adults die painfully for their foolishness before the Great Spirit.
“I will tell you the same thing I was told when I began training. Limit your training to finding that spark within you and moving it from your limbs back to your core. Don’t train fighting with it, we only get so many attempts with it,” Darri instructed Valentin dutifully before his eyes darkened. “If you use all your favor training, you won’t have any left when real danger appears.”
What was the point of training if not to use it in combat practice? An understanding of harnessing one’s abilities won’t save him from others. Valentin needed these powers to help him from relying on others forever. Wouldn’t it be much better to be the person that others looked up to and asked for help? For everything to be on his terms? Sure Darri could use his powers only a handful of times per day. But what about Valentin? He didn’t just make the stone glow, he broke it. Would it be ten times? Twenty? Could it be limitless?
“Your frustration is clear on your face,” Darri remarked, pulling Valentin from his thoughts. “I’m pissed off too. You think that I enjoy bowing to sneering villagers that think that I’m below them? That I have to swallow my pride for the sake of the survivors that can’t defend themselves? It’s humiliating.”
“Why wouldn’t the village value your abilities?” Valentin asked with confusion. “Where I come from, anyone favored with some skill was always sought after and provided for.”
“I’m not needed by the villagers,” Darri replied plainly. “The Armée garrisoning here means that they have all the protection that they need from the raiders. All I would be in their eyes is an unknown. A danger. Besides, they only keep us around because they have to wait for Ferron and the chief to return. They hate to feed us or let us use their streams. But, as long as we don’t cause any problems, they won’t do anything except harass us.”
Darri leaned close and gripped Valentin’s shoulder in his powerful hand. Pain jolted through Valentin and his knees buckled slightly. “You’re associated with us now, Valentin. So if you go around fucking up with these powers, I will kill you to protect my village. Bassett’s promise be damned.”
Valentin clenched his teeth from the pain and from the threat. He did not wish to be threatened. “What do you think Morna would do to you and the children if you harmed me?” Valentin felt revulsion inside him by invoking Morna as a threat and relying on her name to get what he wanted.
Darri looked at Valentin and weighed the outcomes in his head before cursing under his breath. He released Valentin’s shoulder and softened his features. “If you get into trouble, tell me instead of using your abilities. Until whatever deal you have is done and we aren’t associated anymore. Please, I don’t want to lose anyone else.”
The rapid change in appeal surprised Valentin. Perhaps it was the real words Darri wanted to say the entire time. He liked Darri and Bassett and the rest of the children. Putting them in unnecessary danger just to prove a point would hurt him deeply. In that way, Valentin felt as though he understood just a fraction of the responsibility that Darri carried with him.
“I won’t use them. But if I feel my life is in danger-”
“You don’t need to be so loyal as to die for us,” Darri agreed. “Do what you need to do if the moment calls for survival.”
Silence fell between the two of them. Ortus was slowly falling from the sky and the chills of evening swept through the trees. Valentin adjusted his cloak and Darri rubbed his hands together to warm them up. The older boy turned to continue up the trail and the younger quickly followed behind.
Darri kept looking over his shoulder at Valentin. He would open his mouth but no words would depart from his maw.
“I wanted to apologize to you properly. For what happened the first night you arrived.”
Valentin blinked several times, “Oh that. You already apologized. It’s alright.”
“I didn’t apologize genuinely,” Darri admitted. “I was angry that you had killed the hope that Sirro was alive. But deep down I knew that hope had been gone for a long time. So I’m sorry I took it out on you.”
“I think I would have reacted the same way if a stranger showed up and told me someone important to me had died,” Valentin admitted, thoughts straying towards his uncle. He hustled forwards to step beside the large boy. “If you don’t mind me asking, what was Sirro like?”
Darri slowed his pace and didn’t answer for a few moments. He was staring at his feet slowly trudging forward along the rapidly darkening trail. Valentin heard the boy inhale deeply as though he were sucking up all the air in the forest.
“Sirro was strong, smart, and had a smile that nobody could resist. I looked up to him and wished to be his right hand man. His ascension to chiefdom was almost entirely assured after the bloodbath that befell the Chief’s clan. We had been sparring outside the village when we saw smoke billowing from the shoreline. By the time we had gotten there, things were already dire. We were no strangers to shore raids, but the parties were usually only a longship that could fit ten or so and could repel it. However, this time, there were three longships moored in the beaches of our tiny cove.”
Darri went silent when a few villages departing the temple passed them on their way back to the longhouse to retire. Darri stood between Valentin and the other villagers so he did not make out their faces in the waning light, but he was assured that they weren’t kind by Darri’s scowl once they had passed each other.
“When we approached the longhouse, our people’s faces were haggard and defeated. They were cobbling together pitiful defenses to ward off the next push. Many of us had already died on the retreat up to the longhouse but some casualties had been dealt to the raiders which caused them to regroup. The chief immediately gave us the surviving children and told us to flee into the woods. The raiders were encroaching slowly and it was our only chance, so Sirro led us back into the woods where we had come from. There was a hunting lodge further away that we could shelter in.”
Darri’s voice trailed off as he relieved the memories still fresh in his mind. He took a series of calming breaths before continuing. “In the short time that we had taken to reach the longhouse and leave the village, it had already been encircled by the raiders and one stood right between us and our escape. Sirro and I only had our practice spears to defend everyone. It took both Sirro’s and my combined favor to kill the invader with our dull weapons. Two other raiders came running to avenge their comrade but we had fled into the woods.
A javelin flew towards me. My large frame has always looked to be an easy target but I knew how to dodge. But when I tried to use my power to move, my body refused. I must have used too much during training, I always got carried away. I watched helplessly, ready for my death. But it did not come, Sirro used his own power to intercept the javelin with his body. He claimed that it didn’t hit anything important and could be patched up at the lodge. But he was sluggish, his skin was discolored, and he retched blood. He collapsed and I reached out a hand to carry him the rest of the way but he refused, telling me to continue on without him. He claimed he just needed a little rest before catching up. So I did. I trusted Sirro with every part of my being.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Darri and Valentin both knew how the story ended. Sirro never returned. The smoke never ceased billowing from the belching fires of the village. The children ran out of provisions from the hunting lodge and had to make the difficult decision to flee from everything that they had known and ask for refuge in a village that looked down upon them.
“I don’t understand them,” Darri spoke solemnly. “I still question why the chief didn’t evacuate the village while the raiders were disorganized. I question why he prioritized defending the longhouse. I don’t understand why Sirro took the javelin for me. He was far more valuable than I was. Why do people greater than I keep leaving me with the burden of continuing? They reside with the Great Spirit in peace while I toil below, directionless.”
“Darri,” Valentin began, wondered if he should mention what he saw of Sirro. “Sirro wasn’t burned. Even now his trapped soul corrupts the soil between the village and the hunting lodge. He spared you from that end.”
“I see,” whimpered out of the larger boy.
Valentin looked up to see tears streaming down Darri’s face. He wiped at his eyes but the water didn’t cease flowing. Snot pooled at the end of his nostril and onto his upper lip. He tried to remain rigid but his chest convulsed, trying to release the anguish from deep within. He clenched and gripped his arms to his chest to suppress the emotion. With his arms occupied, nothing prevented the free fall of water from his face.
“Sirro.”
The two had to once again stop to allow Darri to stand off of the trail and try to compose himself. A pair of descending villagers spared a glance over to the boys. Valentin saw their judgmental gazes pierce into Darri as they continued up the trail.
Darri returned to his upright posture. While his crying had ceased and the product of his grief wiped away, his visage was still ravaged by the heartbreak that he felt. In spite of his anguish, he still attempted to sport a weak smile and beat his chest in the hopes to resuscitate his wounded bravado.
“We must hurry up the rest of the way. We don’t want to keep Maeve waiting,” Darri said, attempting to distract himself from his thoughts.
“If you don’t mind me asking, Darri,” Valentin broached, his curiosity still intact. He had to walk rapidly to keep up with Darri’s massive strides. “What were you planning to discuss with Maeve?”
“Marriage,” Darri responded nonchalantly. Whatever shame Valentin thought he had about the topic was clearly suppressed by other emotions.
“So it was romantic?”
“No, it’s a formality,” Darri clarified. “You see, it is customary for the strongest villager to marry into the family. Signifies unity. Sirro was betrothed to the chief’s daughter but now that I am recognized by the survivors as the new chief. I need to discuss with Maeve if we wish to continue with the tradition.”
“So Maeve is?”
“Yep,” Darri answered curtly.
“Then why isn’t she considered Chief?”
Darri kicked at a rock, “She was never interested in ruling. Besides, she has higher callings.”
The trail ended at a sizable wooden structure. A warm glow danced out of the doorway and illuminated the final stretch of the trail. Wooden stakes ordained with animal skulls flanked the trail. Valentin could faintly see runes carved into the bone, likely to ward off rogue spirits with ill will towards those with corporeal bodies.
They reached the doorway but did not enter. “They always get pissy whenever someone they don’t like enters without permission,” Darri explained.
Valentin passed the time by watching Ortus drop into the sea. The clearness of the day allowed for the final moments of the fireball to bathe the sky in brilliant swathes of orange and purple. Endless twinkles peeked through the oncoming blackness that blanketed the world during the spirit’s slumber. Any longer and there would be nothing to guide their way back down towards the longhouse.
Darri shifted uncomfortably under the dying lights of the day. However, Valentin was confident that Darri was thankful for the wait. The remnants of his mourning had dissipated and his usual confident expression returned.
“Sorry for keeping you waiting,” the girl emerged through the threshold with two other druids close behind. She noticed that more than Darri was waiting for her and her voice changed to one that was more guarded. “Oh, Valentin, I didn’t know you’d be here.”
Valentin shied away slightly at the greeting. She hadn’t outright said it but the boy felt unwelcome. “Hi, Maeve. I had to talk to Darri.”
A woman with two black lines tattooed on her face leaned forwards and smiled at Valentin. “You’re the boy from the dice game. What brings you up to our temple?”
“Hello, Druid Ula,” Valentin greeted. “I was just accompanying a friend. I’m glad to see you are well.”
“What a good friend you are. Elder Caci, this was the boy I was talking about the other day. The one that helped me make Kern look like a fool.” Ula got the attention of the other druid that left with them
“Don’t rope children into your mischief, Ula,” the woman replied tersely. Valentin could make out four lines on the older woman’s face. She gave Valentin little consideration before returning into the temple.
Ula scratched the back of her head before addressing Maeve. “You won’t need my escort back to the longhouse then?”
Maeve shook her head and stood beside Darri.
“Very well.” Ula took a step back within the temple before immediately backtracking before Valentin. “Valentin, let Gervin know that I want to play more dice soon. He should find me a table because Kern still refuses to speak to me.”
“I will pass the message.”
The druid ruffled the boy’s hair affectionately before returning into the temple. Valentin had initially wanted to recoil but stayed in place.
“So how did things go today?” Darri attempted to break the uncomfortable silence.
“Today was my best day but they still say that I didn’t succeed. I think the spirit they used today was even difficult for Druid Ula to control.”
“Are they really so fucking determined to leave us with nothing?” Darri spat and spared a glance towards the temple and the druids that resided within. He began to walk down the path that led down to the longhouse and the other two followed.
“They would have to accept us if I passed,” Maeve said with a shrug. “I’m glad I failed. I wouldn’t want their hideous pattern on my face anyways.”
Darri snorted a laugh before looking up to the sky. “You took a while, Maeve. Now we only have the lesser lights to guide our path down. Not to mention the chill.”
Maeve took the lead from the boy. “Part of my trials is to be able to navigate this path in all conditions. I will guide us down.”
“Valentin, would you mind walking a few steps back?” Darri requested, seeking the privacy to speak of his intended topic.
Valentin walked as far away from the pair as he could while still being able to see their silhouettes. It was not perfectly far away as he could still make out fragments of conversation when the wind was in a lull but he tried his best to ignore the snippets of conversation that did reach him. He saw Maeve look over her shoulder at him once during the conversation but he could not tell for what reason.
Outside of their initial conversation when he first arrived. Maeve proved to be an elusive person to get a conversation out of. He asked Bassett if he had erred but the boy had just laughed at him and said that’s how she was to strangers. He was surprised that the two of them had already talked at all.
Maeve expertly led them down the invisible path from the temple and towards the torchlight of the longhouse. A handful of warriors stood on dutiful watch on the perimeter of the longhouse. They offered no consideration for the three children that passed through and stared into the inky blackness that engulfed them.
Bassett greeted the three upon their return with a playful smile. “Did you all have fun?”
Darri brushed off the question that Bassett had baited in front of him. “I’m starved. Did you get our rations yet, Bassett?”
Bassett’s smile melted away. “About that, Darri. We will need to do some more rationing this time. They gave us less again.”
“Why?” Darri asked with a simmering anger.
“Guin said that you weren’t finished with work when he came by and its punishment,” Bassett explained with narrowed eyes.
Darri’s face contorted into a look of rage. Bassett tried to soothe his friend’s seething anger but the salve proved ineffective. He tried to rise but winced. He gripped his side and slid back down to the ground. Maeve lurched forward to assist her friend.
“What happened to you?” Darri asked with strain in his voice.
“Oh nothing,” Bassett assured. “Guin and I just had a little disagreement. Nothing big.”
“I’m going to kill him,” Darri hissed so his rage wouldn’t carry throughout the room. “I’ll rip that smug head off of his spindly neck before he even has time to understand what has happened to him.”
“You know he’s one of the Elder’s sons,” Bassett countered.
“Fuck him, fuck the elders, and fuck this village,” Darri hissed before looking over his shoulder. While he was pissed, he wasn’t stupid enough to die over an eavesdropper.
“I’ll give you some of my share, Darri,” one of the children spoke up and the rest eagerly nodded in agreement.
“I appreciate it.” He gently patted the child’s head before looking at Bassett. “But that doesn’t solve-”
“You need to be strong, Darri,” Maeve interrupted to put an end to the discussion. “We need you to be strong. It is your shoulders upon which all of us rest.”
Darri sat down and leaned against the wall of the longhouse. He released a sigh of defeat. Valentin could see that his face was awash in shame and humiliation but had to swallow it for the sake of others. However, behind his eyes, hatred continued to fester and Valentin could only hope that he could possess the same restraint and resolve.
“I need to go,” Valentin excused himself from the group. Bassett looked as though he was going to stop Valentin but instead offered him a smile as Maeve inspected his wound.
Valentin felt as though he had made the short walk between Darri’s spot and Morna’s room countless times over the course of the past few days. He still always briefly paused before entering the room but it had become shorter in duration. This day he barely waited, he had too much on his mind.
Shrouded in the dark of the far wall of the room, the woman lounged on her side on the mattress and picked at some remaining food on a platter. Valentin couldn’t tell if his entrance caused a reaction from the woman. She shifted to a sitting position and brushed some loose strands of hair out of her face.
“Welcome back, Valentin,” Morna greeted. “Bassett said that you left with Darri. If you’re hungry I can go get you something.”
Valentin sat across from Morna and ate the rest of her meal. “I’ll be fine with just that.”
“Has something upset you?” The woman inched closer and brushed her fingers along his face. “I don’t like that expression.”
Valentin pulled away, but only slightly. He tried not to allow his anger to complicate things for himself.
“I hate people that look down upon and take advantage of others.” Valentin stood up and moved to the mattress to lay down. He turned to his side and had his back to Morna.
“What brought this on?” Morna inquired in a cool, serious tone. “Did something happen?”
“Guin reduced their rations. He said that they didn’t finish their work by the time he returned but it was a lie. I was there the entire time and Guin had never appeared. He’s just trying to starve them because he knows that they can’t do anything about it,” Valentin explained, his voice quivering with righteous indignation. “But it’s not just Guin, the entire village looks down upon them for no other reason than that they are from a different village. They look down on me as well.”
“It is difficult to be at the mercy of someone else,” Morna agreed. Valentin could not tell if she was stabbing him intentionally with her words or if she was oblivious to the dynamic she was currently in. “If it ever goes too far, let me know and I’ll make sure that they are fed.”
“What would you have them do in return for that kindness?” Valentin was more bold than normal but he was angry on behalf of those that went to sleep hungry. That they had to sacrifice. Most of all, he was angry for Darri who was drowning in expectations and responsibilities. His powerlessness to rectify the issue.
“I wouldn’t force them to do anything except for the work that they were already assigned. It’s the village not upholding their end of our bargain by not providing resources that the warband has already paid for and damaging people that Ferron has yet to inspect. Actually,” Morna’s voice dripped with threat and made Valentin shiver. “I will speak to Deggan Hubert and have the matter addressed tomorrow.”
A hand found itself on Valentin’s shoulder. It was something that had become routine by now. He rolled onto his back and looked at the woman that reached for him.
“Thanks, Morna.”
Morna’s hand froze and stayed motionless for a time. It quivered with rare hesitance. Valentin started to feel the pinpricks of worry creep up his neck. He tried to control his breathing and remain as still as possible. But, to his surprise, the hand drifted away from him and the woman laid down on the mattress.
“Goodnight Valentin.”
“Goodnight, Morna,” Valentin responded, only drifting deeper into confusion and unease. He watched Morna’s form intensely to see if she would rise up again, but she did not. All Valentin could hear was the rhythmic breathing of sleep.