Part Twenty

I woke up early the next morning and found myself in front of my mirror with a bowl of warm water and a straight razor. Zeera enjoyed running her fingers through my straight, dark, crimson-colored hair, but she was gone, and I wanted a different look. I washed my face in the warm water before using the straight razor to carefully shave my head. When I finished, I brushed myself off and inspected myself in the mirror. I got dressed and donned my armor before tossing my hat up and catching it with the top of my head. I grabbed my pack and my cloak, and with a confident swagger and crooked grin, I made my way to the inn.

When I got there, Durdrin was waiting with Shadow One close behind him. Vielyn arrived not long after me. “How are you boys doing?” Durdrin asked us both. He then looked at me and narrowed his eyes slightly, trying to figure out what was different.

I watched him tilt his head back and forth before cracking a smile as he reached up and snatched my hat from my head. He let out a laugh when he spotted my bald head, and Vielyn too snickered at me. “You look like a dick with ears,” Durdrin said as he burst out in full-blown laughter.

I looked at him for a moment as Vielyn too started to laugh. “Big pointy ears!” my brother added, making fun of my ears being slightly bigger than average.

“I may be bald and have big ears, but I can still fight, and I’d wager I can take both of you…” I said, still not quite in the mood to be made fun of.

Durdrin smiled and raised his hands. “Alright, alright,” he said as he patted the air in front of him. “Let’s get some food and discuss the next adventure.” He said as he turned and headed inside, with Vielyn and I following close behind him.

We sat at our booth, and I looked to Durdrin as I fought back a smirk. “So, why do you have One waiting outside? You afraid I might try to kill you for sending my son away?” I asked him.

Durdrin shook his head. “If I feared that, I’d be far from this place. You do have a reputation, son,” he replied.

“So why are they here? You’ve never needed an armed escort in the compound for as long as I’ve been Barra D’aron,” I asked curiously.

Durdrin smiled wide. “They’re here because you, Vielyn, and I are going somewhere very dangerous,” he said as he looked across the table at my brother and me. I ate a spoonful of my porridge, sweetened with fruit from the surface, as I waited for my father to finish his story. “Us three, along with One, Nine, and Thirteen, are going to try to find my grandson,” he said enthusiastically. He seemed to have gotten over losing Mother, and her betrayal, rather quickly, given how long they’d known each other.

That got my attention. Durdrin only had one grandson—at least, only one that he claimed. Much like myself being his “only child,” though there were likely a few other Drow running around Felynafay that shared some of Durdrin’s DNA.

“Why?” I asked. I still did not care for the child; part of me still blamed him for Zeera’s death.

Durdrin looked at me blankly for a moment. “Because he’s your son, my grandson. He belongs with us, whether you want him or not,” he said sternly. “And you will help me find him, and you won’t try to harm him… or else…” he added.

“Or else what?” I asked as I rolled my eyes.

Durdrin looked at me with a look so cold it would freeze the balls off a tundra yeti. “Or else… you won’t have Shadow Nine or your brother to back you up… when One and I come to kill you,” he said in a tone that matched his face.

I nodded my head, quickly agreeing with my father, whom I’d never seen so serious. He didn’t even threaten to kill me when I threatened to kill him and Rylzt in their sleep or when I cut his finger off as a child. Sure, he said he should, but he didn’t actually threaten to.

“So, what is the plan?” Vielyn asked, hoping to get the conversation back to the task at hand rather than letting it devolve into Durdrin and me threatening each other until a fight broke out.

Durdrin shrugged. “We’re going to Alta Roc, in Shore. It’s about a hundred and fifteen kilometers southeast from here, six kilometers up,” he said as he pointed straight up, indicating that we were going to the surface.

My eyes went wide. “The surface?” I asked. Durdrin nodded his head. “How do we get there?” I asked. I looked to Durdrin and waited for a response. The furthest I had ever gone from home was about halfway to Sherentalos.

“We will march through the tunnels southwest of here for sixty kilometers until we find the cave that will let us out into the surface world. Then, once on the surface, we need to head a hundred and fifty kilometers east, to Shore,” he explained.

I looked to him, then to my brother, and then back to my father. “So we’re going to the surface. Who will protect my house?” I asked.

Durdrin smiled. “Maya will be protected by Six, Ten, Eleven, and Twelve. Godiin has been told not to leave her side,” he assured me.

Six was an elite team, much like Vielyn’s and much like my own team was shaping up to be. I did have the advantage of hand-picking most of my teammates, though.

“You trust Godiin?” Vielyn asked.

Durdrin shrugged. “He won’t fail. I can assure you that much,” he said with a shrug.

Vielyn looked to me. “What do you think about this?” he asked.

“I think Godiin will protect Maya with his life. He’s loyal to the organization, and he knows the organization is loyal to House De’Endar,” I responded.

Vielyn nodded his head, agreeing with me.

“When we finish here, we’re going to assemble outside the armory. You’ll have a chance to grab anything you might need for the journey,” Durdrin said. “It might be a long trip; you’re going to want to bring preserved food and make sure you have accommodations for your team,” he added. Vielyn and I looked at each other, and I cracked a smile.

“This will be quite the adventure. I’m glad you and Jhule will be accompanying Durdrin and I on our quest to reclaim my son,” I said, as if either of them had a choice.

Vielyn grinned wide. “What kind of uncle would I be if I didn’t try to rescue my nephew from those wicked surface elves?” he asked.

I let out a little chuckle. We all knew that the surface elves weren’t all that different from us in the Barra D’aron, though we tended to be a bit meaner than our lighter-skinned cousins. The surface elves weren’t nearly as mean as we were taught by the teachers in the academy—a school I never visited. We dark-skinned elves, be it Drow or just plain Dark Elves, were just as nefarious as the surface elves described us to be, though definitely more nefarious than the surface elves.

For the most part, I had been sheltered from it by being taken into the Barra D’aron at a young age. Sure, my brother tried to kill me when I was only five years old; my mother killed my brother’s woman and his daughter, as well as killing my woman and having my father send my son away, all in a bid to control and manipulate us. Mother also manipulated Zeera into prostituting me out when I was only eighteen. I’ve been killing people for a living since I was fifteen years old, so, perhaps I hadn’t been sheltered from it. Either way, we, as a race, were only slightly exaggerated about when people spoke of us.

The Barra D’aron was different from Drow and Dark Elf society in general. In order for us to survive and thrive, we had to live by a certain code. Durdrin enforced this behavioral code across all members of the Barra D’aron; not even officers or himself were above it. We acted in a way that would be accepted almost anywhere, even if we were a little more aggressive than your average person. We were mercenaries, after all—violence for hire.

As Durdrin, Vielyn, and I sat in our booth discussing our upcoming adventure, I spotted something curious coming down from the rooms upstairs. It was my big sister Jhule and a tiny little fellow behind her. I recognized the Drow whose hand she was holding and smirked. It was Brudaer.

Vielyn and I looked in their direction, and he smiled sheepishly at us as he glanced at Jhule and then back to us at the table. Jhule shoved Brudaer into the booth next to Durdrin, and as Durdrin slid to the inside, she sat next to Brudaer and smiled across the table at Vielyn and me.

Vielyn looked at Brudaer but didn’t say anything, while I just smiled. “I hope you two got some rest last night. We’re going on a grand adventure,” I said.

Jhule shrugged her shoulders. “I got enough rest,” she said, and Brudaer nodded his head.

“Vielyn, leave him alone,” Jhule said as she noticed her brother eyeing Brudaer.

Vielyn turned his head to face Jhule and smiled at her. “He’s a good man,” he said, which brought a relieved smile from Brudaer.

Brudaer knew I’d been able to take him in a fight since I was eighteen, and Vielyn was bigger and tougher than me. He didn’t want to fight either of us, so he was relieved to get Vielyn’s approval. He didn’t need it, of course; the choice was his and Jhule’s to make. Vielyn was our protector, though, so that wouldn’t stop him from protecting Jhule if Brudaer were an undesirable man, like Chey had been to Zeera.

After we all finished giving them a hard time, we explained what was going on and what the plan was before meeting the rest of our respective teams outside the armory. Durdrin stood proudly as he looked at the group he had assembled of those who were closest to him—the group that would aid him in recovering his grandson, he hoped. “We embark on what might be the journey of a lifetime today. We may not be back for a long time, so make sure you’re prepared to travel. We’re going to the surface, so those of you with sensitive eyes will want to prepare for that,” he said, and the soldiers accompanying us moved into the armory to fill their packs with the equipment they’d need.

“We do not want all of Felynafay to know we’re leaving. Meet me here,” Durdrin said as he pointed his finger at a spot on a small map. It was only about two kilometers out of Felynafay, but the way the caves and tunnels curved and turned, it would be a good enough spot to link up the three Shadow Teams and start our journey to the surface. “We will leave separately, at separate times; that way, it appears we’re just going about business as usual. I don’t want anyone to know that the three of us, and our teams, are away,” Durdrin said to Vielyn and me as our thirty-five Shadow Knights raided the armory for supplies.

Nine and I were sent ahead first, leaving hours before Durdrin or Vielyn and their groups.

When we all met up at the designated spot, Durdrin took the lead. He had been to the surface many times, including pretty recently when he was forced to hide my child from me. I marched beside my father as we moved through the tunnels towards the surface.

“Down here, we’re relatively safe. There aren’t many who will challenge forty-three Drow down in these tunnels,” Durdrin stated confidently. “But when we get above ground, we will need to be on our toes. The surface folk fear us, as they should, and they’ll often try to kill us on sight, without asking any questions. If they succeed, they’re praised; if they fail… well… I’d imagine they’re mourned,” he said nonchalantly.

I turned to face him and stopped walking, causing the whole group to come to a halt. “What are you getting us into? You’re going to risk over forty Shadow Knights for a single child?” I asked, still not too keen on the idea of getting my child back. In truth, I was on the fence; part of me wanted him back. He was mine and Zeera’s, and we had made him together. Another, smaller part of me still wanted to kill the child for killing my Zeera.

“Yes, now walk,” Durdrin said as he started walking again. The group behind me began to move forward, so I kept pace with him. “When we come to the end of the tunnels, when we’re at the surface, we will wait until night falls, when the Great Stars are pointing at the other side of the planet. I have a contact in a nearby town who’ll be waiting at a safe house not far from the cave exit. He speaks Drow and will be our escort on the surface,” he explained.

“So, we just wander around the surface, under constant threat of ambush by people who hate us and would rather see us dead than even try to converse, but we should be at ease because you have a friend who lives there?” I asked incredulously.

Durdrin shrugged and nodded. “Yes, and if you’re looking for someone to blame… you can blame your mother and your own hot temper. She orchestrated all of this, and you threatened to harm my grandson, my blood,” he said as he looked over at me. I sighed and nodded my head, conceding that I had indeed played my part in this.

We would march for five hours, covering about twenty kilometers before we found a large enough cavern for us to set up camp for the night. We wanted to march easily, to take our time so as not to tire ourselves out. I watched as the soldiers began to unroll their bedrolls and set up their tents.

Durdrin set his tent up really fast; he had experience using them in his many adventures. But when I looked over at Vielyn, he was holding a canvas in one hand and a pole segment in the other.

Vielyn was less experienced in setting up his own tent, and I smirked at him. “What, you’ve never used one of these? Let’s see you set it up!” he barked, his annoyed tone telling me he didn’t appreciate my smirk.

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“Put that away, brother. I have something better for us officers,” I said with a smile as I pulled a gold coin from my pocket and flipped it up in the air.

I let the coin fall on the floor of the cavern about fifteen feet from me and then stepped back a few steps away from it. “Back up, or you’ll be shoved back,” I said casually as I looked at the coin. It was a magical device that had an eyepatch-wearing Drow male grinning on one side and a small cottage on the other. The coin had landed face side up, but it didn’t matter.

As Vielyn moved out of the way, I watched carefully, ready to move back further if needed. “Caer Masdrin,” I said, speaking the command word that would cause the magical coin to do its thing. I watched with a smile as a stone cottage slowly rose up from the ground.

It was a quaint stone cottage with shutters covering the windows and a heavy stone door blocking the entrance. “Durdrin, Jhule, Vielyn, Caelnel, Rylzt, Brudaer, Naraun, Tazerin—you’re all in the cottage with me. The rest of you, stay sharp,” I said loudly as I walked forward to the door.

The secure shelter was sparsely furnished with four bunk beds, a long trestle table, four benches, and a writing desk. A small shelf above the woodstove held the coin I had used to summon the building and would unsummon it when I picked the coin up. I took a seat at the table, and the rest of the officers joined me.

“Very nice. Where did you acquire this?” Jhule asked as she sat next to me.

With a shrug of my shoulders, I gave her a non-answer. “Oh, who knows? I’ve had it since I was fifteen or so,” I said casually.

Coincidentally, I got a lot of my gear and trinkets when I was fifteen or so. My bag was sitting at my feet, and I remembered grabbing extra ones, so I opened the flap to the compartment, and both of the extra coins were sitting on top of the bag. “Here,” I said as I tossed the gold coin to her. She caught it out of the air and smiled at me. “What do I do?” she asked. “Toss it on the ground, speak its name,” I said before pointing towards the woodstove, to the shelf holding my own coin. “When you take it from there, it will… go away… and everyone will be left outside,” I said with a shrug, not really understanding magic all that well.

Jhule drew her House De’Endar dagger and held it over the coin as she activated one of the many enchantments on it, the identify magic enchantment. She smiled as the blade imparted the description of the item she held in her hand. “Caer Jhule,” she said quietly.

“Go enjoy it tonight. When we’re on the surface, you’re both to be in here with the rest of us. I do not wish to lose my favorite sister to some dirty human or surface elf,” I said before standing back up. “That goes for all of you. Unless Durdrin has something better up his sleeve, we’re all to sleep in this cabin. It’s far more secure than any of the tents. You people are my family. Jhule, Vielyn, you’ve watched out for me my whole life, especially you, brother,” I said as I looked from Jhule to Vielyn.

Turning to face my father, I smirked. “And Father, Caelnel, Rylzt, and Brudaer—you’ve been my family since I was ten years old. I’ve given all of you a hard time, and I’ll continue to do so. I have to keep you on your toes, keep you sharp,” I said as I looked to Rylzt with a wide grin.

“Don’t say it…” he said quietly.

“Isn’t that right…” I started.

“Don’t…”

“…Rylzt,” I said. Everyone at the table expected me to call him “Little Spoon,” a derogatory nickname I had given him the morning after my first night next to Zeera.

At the end of the table sat Naraun Dhalmaerth and Tazerin Alesek, two Drow whose House and family I had a hand in destroying. They were the newest members of the inner circle. They were both talented fighters and incredibly loyal to the company, and of course, to Shadow Nine. “You two joined us a while later but have been great assets and great friends. I consider you two to be my family too,” I said to them. They nodded appreciatively, and I sat back down.

I walked over to a wine rack and grabbed a couple of bottles of mid-grade wine, then cast Prestidigitation on each bottle I touched, making it taste like an expensive wine. With four bottles in my hands, I wandered back over to the table and handed them out, keeping one for myself. “Help yourselves. This place restocks itself every time I unsummon it… or when I resummon it… Either way, it restocks itself,” I said as I pulled the cork out of my bottle and brought it to my lips.

Durdrin, the rest of my “family,” and I sat there until late into the night. We had drunk many bottles of wine, and I was getting ready to climb into the top bunk of the bunk bed closest to me when a commotion broke out outside. Durdrin was the first to his feet, and he followed me to the door, with everyone else right behind us. I pulled the door open and could not believe the sight laid out before me.

Calszar, Bagos, Kyorrin, and Zekmir—the four remaining members of Nine who were not in the inner circle—remained by the door, while beyond them, One and Thirteen were brawling with each other.

“What is the meaning of this?” I asked out loud.

The four men stood up and flanked me. Calszar tilted his head and smirked. “Well, I heard one call the other ‘Little Spoon,’ and then I heard one demand he take it back, and then all hell broke loose,” he said with a shrug.

“THAT’S IT! BREAK IT UP!” Durdrin shouted. His voice echoed through the cavern, and everyone on both teams froze in place. “I SAID, BREAK IT UP!” he shouted again, and the two Shadow Teams immediately began to separate and move back to their tents and bedrolls. “Do not instigate fights with each other; show each other the respect each of you deserves. You are the best of the best; act like it,” he said before turning and heading back into the cabin. I followed him back inside, and the rest of the officers followed behind me.

“You see what you started?” Durdrin said to me with a drunken slur.

“What? I was in here with you. How did I start that?” I responded incredulously.

“Because! You have a reputation for being insubordinate and doing what you want!” he said back.

I tilted my head. “Your men and Vielyn’s men were fighting, not mine. Do not blame me because you two cannot keep your own men in line,” I said, expressing my displeasure with an annoyed tone. “My men, and Jhule, know better than to act up. They know how I deal with insubordination. You and Vielyn are soft; you let your teams get complacent, let them rest on their laurels, and then wonder why they act up and fight,” I added.

Durdrin looked at me with a look of shock, and I noticed Vielyn had stopped in his tracks and turned to face me as well.

“What did you say?” Vielyn asked.

“Who do you think you’re talking to?” Durdrin asked as he poked me in the chest… with the same finger I severed sixteen years ago when I was just ten.

“I’m speaking to you, Durdrin. Remember what happened last time you poked that finger where you shouldn’t have…” I threatened him quietly.

I then turned to face Vielyn. “I said you’re going soft, and if your men do not fear or respect you enough to behave when you’re not present, then they see you the same way.” Vielyn growled low, and I thought he meant to strike out at me, so I activated a charge of my Iron Hand ring, though I’d only strike out at him defensively.

To my surprise, Vielyn moved past me, shoving me roughly out of his way as he did so. He moved outside, and I heard him shouting at his Shadow Team.

I turned to face Durdrin, who was still scowling at me. “Make your move, old man,” I said brazenly. He broke my jaw when I was ten years old because I wasn’t afraid to strike out at him back then. I certainly wasn’t afraid of him now since I grew up bigger than he did.

He looked at me and squared his shoulders, so I planted my feet and squared up with him. I clenched my left hand into a fist, it was still imbued with the Iron Hand enchantment, if Durdrin wanted a scrap, I’d give him one he’d never forget.

Durdrin growled and launched a flurry of punches at me, though the alcohol had slowed him and made his movements predictable. I was able to slap aside the punches and block the kicks, but I had to be careful as well; I may not have been as drunk as Durdrin or my brother, but I was a little tipsy.

Suddenly, Durdrin connected with the side of my head, right next to my temple, and reflexively I launched my left fist, Iron Hand and all, and connected square with his chest, blasting the air out of him.

He had rattled my skull, but I reached out and grabbed Durdrin by the collar and pulled him close. “Don’t make me beat you in front of your men,” I said so quietly only he’d hear me.

He shoved me back and took another swing, but I got my arm up just in time to block it. I hopped back a step and danced around him. “I’d stop if I were you,” I warned him out loud.

This had been building for fifteen years. I had a history of insubordination… just like Durdrin had said, and I made it a habit to give him a hard time.

I dodged punch after punch, though he did catch me off guard when he feinted a right cross but instead launched himself up and caught me on the chin with his knee. I staggered back, barely stopping myself from toppling over, and used my momentum to carry me further back so I was nearly up against the wall, though I still had a bit of room to move.

Durdrin, still scowling, took two steps towards me, and I sprang into action. I activated the second charge in my Iron Hand ring as I leapt into the air, launching a superman punch that just clipped Durdrin’s cheek, sending him sprawling back. He rattled my skull, so I returned the favor. “Father, stop,” I demanded. I did not want to fight him, and I did not want to beat him in a fight, especially in front of other members of our group. He was our leader, he was Durdrin, and much like Vielyn, he was unbeatable—or so the legend went.

On the same hand… I was Masdrin De’Endar, son of Durdrin and Larynda, Second-Boy of the Fourth House of Felynafay, occasional consort to the Matron Mother of the Third House, and never bested in a real fight. This night neither of us would back down. Caelnel and the other officers sat at the table watching; they wouldn’t interfere as long as neither of us drew a weapon.

Durdrin took one step towards me; he was just barely out of my reach. I planted my feet and raised my hands defensively, and as Durdrin went to close the gap between us, I kicked out, putting all my power behind a spinning superkick that caught Durdrin square on the chin. It was lights out at that point, and I had to reach out and grab him to stop him from falling to the floor. I looked to the other officers in the room and shook my head as I dragged Durdrin to the nearest bunk bed and gently laid him in the bottom bunk. I knelt down and gave him a gentle shake, trying to wake him back up.

He jumped awake and looked around, confusion evident on his face. “What happened?” he asked as he brought a hand up to touch where my boot had connected.

“You tripped and fell. You definitely didn’t get your ass kicked by your twenty-five-year-old son,” I said sarcastically to him. He looked past me to the rest of our inner circle, who were still watching us intently. He looked back at me; his ego was more bruised than his body, but Durdrin was one of my favorite people.

I turned to face the rest of our friends and family. “He tripped, right, guys?” I asked.

“That’s what we saw,” Caelnel said with a shrug. “Perhaps you’ve had just a little too much wine for tonight, my friend,” he suggested to Durdrin.

Durdrin’s lip curled into a snarl as the memories of a few moments ago came flooding back to him.

Before I could react, Caelnel spoke up. “I wouldn’t,” was all he had to say to make him hesitate.

Durdrin looked at me, then at his trusted advisor, before looking back to me and trying to decide his next course of action. His face softened a few seconds later as he brought his hand up to his head. “That floor hits hard,” he said as he sat up, rubbed his chin, and looked at me with a frown. “If you weren’t my son, I’d have killed you long before you were able to beat me in a fight…” he said bitterly.

I looked at him and tilted my head. “I have not yet seen the day when I can beat Durdrin in a fight. Certainly not today,” I said as I smiled and turned to face the others sitting at the table. “Isn’t that right?”

Caelnel nodded his head. “I think he’d still kick your ass, Masdrin,” he replied.

I smiled and turned back to my father. “You see?” I asked. Durdrin nodded his head and smiled, finally realizing I respected him more than he had thought.

We were back at the table a short while later. Vielyn had come back in, looking rather proud of himself after giving Shadow Thirteen a dressing down, and Durdrin had quickly gotten over his “fall” and was sitting next to me nursing a glass of wine. Durdrin was always quick to forgive, especially when it was regarding me… or any of our friends, really.

As we all sat around the table, I looked to Durdrin. There was a question that had been bothering me for years. “What is so special about me?” I asked him.

He stared at me blankly for a moment and then blinked a couple of times, not really understanding the question. “What do you mean? What makes you think you’re special?” he asked.

“You are Durdrin, the mighty leader of the Barra D’aron. I have seen you with more women than I care to count. Surely, you’ve sired many children with many women, but the only one I’ve ever met, seen, or heard of is myself. Why was I chosen to be your heir? Why was I chosen to receive your attention? Why do I get the special treatment?” I had asked a few questions, but they were all looking for the same answer.

Durdrin looked at me, and a sadness came over him. “You’re right. I may have certainly helped increase the population of Astenet,” he said as he tapped his fingers on the table. He wasn’t sure exactly how to explain what he wanted to say, but he’d try his best.

“I’ve tried my hand at fathering a few times, and I must say… I’m not very good at it,” he said with a sigh. “You were different, though. I had to do better with you. You weren’t just the result of a drunken night with a stranger. Larynda and I…” He stopped as he began to go through the memories of the many, many nights he had spent with Mother.

He smiled slightly as he continued. “I don’t know how to explain what Larynda and I had. It was similar to you and Zeera…” he said solemnly. I nodded my head as I listened to him. I understood how he felt about Mother. We both understood the betrayal, at multiple levels, that she orchestrated. When she killed Grelia, she betrayed House De’Endar. When she killed Zeera, she betrayed House De’Endar as well as the Barra D’aron.

Durdrin looked down at his wine glass and frowned as he thought about the day that my siblings and I killed Mother. He couldn’t blame Jhule, Vielyn, or me for what happened. He would have done the same thing if someone had poisoned Larynda and me back when I was born.

He also felt betrayed by her, knowing she had Zeera poisoned. Zeera was a few things to Durdrin: she was his accountant and very important in the company, she was the mother of his grandson and my woman. Most of all, Zeera was his friend—she was a friend to everyone at the table.

“You are special because you are my son,” he said as he put his arm across my shoulders and pulled me close. “All those other children I may or may not have made mean nothing to me because I don’t know them. They belonged to their mothers, or… or they weren’t important enough for me to care about,” he said rather callously.

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “So, because Mother let you have a hand in my upbringing…” I started.

He pulled his arm back and gave me a light shove. “A hand in your upbringing? I’m pretty sure you’ve been with me longer than you were in House De’Endar!” he said indignantly.

“Well, with them… you know, the guys you paid to kick the shit out of me every day until I became useful to you.” I accused him as I pointed around the table to Shadow Nine.

“And look how strong you are!” he shouted. “I did that! I fought with your mother in order to bring you to where you are now. I gave you the best the Barra D’aron had to offer for your teachers, and then when they couldn’t teach you anymore, I put them under your control. Your weapon, you have because of me. Your armor? Me again, son. What about all those gems and all those coins you’ve earned because of how strong I made you?” he said angrily. “I made you so strong that I have to fear you myself, and if your brother was wise, he’d fear you too,” he slurred. This drunken idiot was taking credit for my own hard work and that of mostly Brudaer, Caelnel, and Rylzt.

“You do not have to fear me, and neither does Vielyn. Even if I was able to beat either of you in a fight, I wouldn’t want to,” I said with a shrug and a smirk.

“He cannot beat me!” Vielyn slurred drunkenly. “Not even Durdrin can beat powerful Vielyn!” my brother boasted, slurring almost every word as he flexed his arm.

He stood up with a wide grin. “Who thinks they can take Vielyn?” he asked as he patted his chest proudly.

He looked directly at me, and I shook my head. “Not without all of the soldiers we have in this cavern,” I said, inflating my drunken brother’s ego.

“You three?” he said as he pointed to Rylzt, Tazerin, and Naraun.

Naraun, proud former Weapon Master of House Dhalmaerth and Vielyn’s former rival, went to stand up but felt a hand on his arm. He looked down to see Caelnel pulling him back down. “Vielyn will mess you up, and even if you do start to win… Masdrin won’t let you beat his big brother. Even if you can take one of them… you won’t take both of them,” Caelnel communicated to him nearly silently, through their implants. Naraun sat back down and nodded his head; he had surrendered to Vielyn and me back when I was only eighteen when we destroyed his house.

The rest of the night went by uneventfully, and when we finally decided to hit the bunks, we all rested well.