The village’s name was Surram Dahla, which meant no more than a southern valley in azraani or maybe an abundant valley—either way. Before the magical creatures appeared, it was a populous and prosperous village, with many fahwa gardens occupying the long hillsides above the narrow river. The climate in this place was unusually mild for the Heart of the Ridge: warm winters and not-so-hot summers. The valley was protected from winds coming from steppes on the west by a high range of mountains, but that alone was not enough to justify the anomaly, so people used to say that the Sun God protects the place from harsh weather. Humans and vards of the Grinderhammers clan lived here in peace and cooperation, benefiting from each other. Highlanders were interested in farming and trade, while vards were in charge of smithing and mining lead and silver, with their rights to prospect the earth’s bowels protected by the tsar’s decree.
As in many other places, magical creatures brought desolation to Surram Dahla. Unlike in many other places, some of the valley’s inhabitants did not run away and managed to survive and live through the darkest years, despite the hunger and all the dangers sneaking around. Twenty years ago, when the hunters of Crimson Alder were fighting the moon creatures in the mountains, around fifty people still lived in Surram Dahla. Later, the population slowly rose to almost three hundred. Still, strangers were rare here because, as Shadow said, the valley was far from the Copper Road, which merchants used to cross the Heart of the Ridge. Only some visited this place during the fahwa season or when the carmon nut fruited.
It was quite an event when the wardens and the black monks came to Surram Dahla on the same day. Unexpected guests are often met with suspicion. Everyone was guessing why the daughter of the Crimson Alder head had come here and why she hurried up to visit Molle Grinderhammer. The black monks were not going to sit back either. After a short rest in the tavern, the two of them visited the local punshur (a headman in azraani) and explained their intentions. They were here to study the magical creatures and teach people how to fight them most effectively and safely. That news spread faster than fire. Knowing more about magical creatures may seem helpful. However, messing with them did contradict a common belief: let sleeping dogs lie (or, in this case, sleeping wolves). Hence, many worried that all these strangers would bring a lot of trouble to their now-quiet neighborhood.
One thing, though, that locals enjoyed about the monks was that they paid for their dinner and bed in silver coins without any haggling. The Brothers stayed in a big empty house, which once belonged to a wealthy peasant family, of whom everyone died during the dark years except for one old man. He lived nearby in a much smaller place that he could keep on his own, while the bigger house stood almost neglected, and only traveling merchants (the poorest of them) stayed there from time to time. The pitiful state of the residence didn’t scare the brothers away. The main hall was enough to accommodate them all, the hearth was clean, and there was a fenced and roofed enclosure for their three horses in the inner yard. The house even had a small garden, but it was overgrown with weeds.
In the evening, three elder brothers: Viraz, Masho, and Gerome (who missed the dinner in the tavern as he was too tired from the road), were discussing their plans inside the house. Belrigan and Lauro, after feeding the horses and cleaning the yard a little, were left to themselves.
Belrigan took a patch of paper and black chalk and secluded in the garden. There Lauro found him not long after, sitting on an old cracked bench.
”What are you drawing, Belrigan?” Lauro leaned over his brother’s shoulder.
”Nothing.”
Belrigan promptly folded the paper.
”What’s this nothing?”
”Just a flower,” Belrigan nodded towards a shy bush of wildflowers among the weeds.
”Flower? Why do you need a flower? Did Gerome ask you to draw it?”
”No, I’m practicing. What’s the matter with you, Lauro? You are acting strangely.”
Belrigan didn’t like lying, but thankfully Lauro’s curiosity was easily outmatched by the volatility of his character, and he quickly switched to another topic.
”How do you think, Belrigan, will we find these wolf mages here?” he asked as he sat down next to Belrigan. From his sidelong glances, it was apparent he was still interested to see what was on the paper, but, at the same time, he had something different on his mind.
”I don’t know, but that's the last village with this name around. And it’s, in fact, the most southern of all, so it must be it.”
”Yea… that’s what brother Gerome says. But doesn’t it sound vague? Southern Valley. So simple. I’m sure if we search better, we will find another one,” Lauro ran his fingers through the hair, tousling it. ”Do you feel anything special in this place, brother Belrigan?”
”What do you mean?”
”I mean the wolf inside you. Is it sleeping? I remember you told me about the calling you heard near Phoenix Peak. Did you feel anything similar recently?”
”Of course not. That time it was so strong that it made me lose control completely.”
”So, nothing disturbed you since we arrived in the Heart of the RIge?”
”Not in that way.”
”That’s good, that’s good!” Lauro repeated thoughtfully. “That means there’s nothing here either.”
Belrigan had known him since Lauro was six. Despite their very different characters, the two could always get along quickly. The last time, Belrigan saw Lauro acting like this was when he was caught on theft. That time, he stole a traveler’s purse who stayed in the monastery for a night. But, thanks to brother Masho, he got off simply with the rods.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
”You are acting weirdly, brother,” said Belrigan. ”Did something happen?”
”No. And this is the point. We have been here, in these damn mountains, for several months, yet we found nothing. And you know what I think? We will find nothing after a year more!” Lauro lowered his voice to a whisper. ”It’s a waste of time. And even if we find these wolves, whatever—this will be the end of our journey. A tragic end for us all: becoming prey for moon beasts.”
”I think… elder brothers have a plan.”
”Yes, they have their secret plans. Too bad they didn’t share them with us!”
”Why do you say so? Lauro, I don’t recognize you. We know everything we should. Finding these mages is important because they could be our allies against Libra.”
”That is what brother Viraz says. But think, how could these wolf mages help us? They live here, and our home is in the Zidron Mountains, hundreds of miles away.”
”I think, first of all, brother Viraz seeks knowledge. If these guys know how to deal with moon wolves, we can use it too and turn moon wolves into a weapon.”
“I don’t know, brother… I don’t think we will find them. We will walk from one door to another, as in the previous village, talking to people about magic and magical creatures… useless! I don’t understand. Does brother Gerome expect someone to confess that he can control the moon creatures?”
”Brothers know what to do, Lauro. They tell people about magical creatures but also listen to what they say in return and look at them. I think they are waiting for signs.”
”I saw a sign today…”
”Really?”
”Yeah, in the tavern. Haven’t you noticed? The highlanders look upon us as if they were going to eat us in complement to their grill! The more strange questions we ask, the greater the chance we will get into trouble with locals or wardens.”
Belrigan took Lauro’s hand.
”Listen,” he said firmly, ”you need to calm down. I lost the point; what are we speaking about?”
”Do you want to know what I think, brother Belrigan?”
”Why, yes, of course!”
Their dialog was turning more and more strange. Lauro got a thievery look; he lowed his voice even more and looked around to ensure no one could hear them.
”I think this is crazy, brother. Libra, wolf mages—it’s all crazy. These are all so complex things… intrigues, secrets. We will die in these mountains without knowing exactly what we are fighting for because our elder brothers don’t say much about the whole shit. They only share with us what they want us to know! Look, even now, they are discussing their things privately!”
“I’m sure we can return inside.” Belrigan started to get angry.
“Yes, but are you sure they told you everything about Libra and magic?”
”I don’t recognize you, Lauro. That’s how things always were in the Black Brotherhood! You receive knowledge as you age and progress in studying the law of the Five. We know all we need about our sacred goal—the Five entrusted us with reviving the magic and bringing it back to people!”
“Yes… do you seriously think this will happen during our lifetime? Brother, when I speak about secrets and intrigues, I mean not those things from the books. I mean that we don’t know what our elder brothers are going to do now! And what else are they hiding from us… For instance, take Libra: we were only told about it when you faced that masked mage at Phoenix Peak! But Libra is important… I mean, Libra killed your parents. They killed many innocents. They hunt and kill mages! Just think about it: we have magical abilities thanks to elder brothers and their experiments—it means we are outlaws for Libra! This is terrifying, and the brothers hide this information from everyone. Is it related to the sacred law of the Five? No! And there might be even more horrid things that we don’t know yet. This freaks me out.”
”I think you need to calm down and talk to master Masho, brother,” Belrigan decided to stick with this line as he understood Lauro less and less with each moment. ”I’m sure he has the answers.”
”No, thanks! I know brother Masho can calm down anyone, but I don’t want to be calm. Let them have their secrets,” he nodded towards the lightened window, ”let them do whatever they want—we don’t need to follow.”
”What are you trying… ”
”You got it now, don’t you? Listen, brother, we must run away and go on our own. We don’t need to return to Zidron Mountains. We can settle in Azaaraan. Not in these dull mountains, of course, but south. We are halfway to the capital, and there, in Pata-Araan, no one will find us. It’s a huge city with plenty of opportunities.”
”We can’t do that.”
”Why not? We can easily find a bed and bread there and even a job. We speak hilistian and know azraani as well. You, Belrigan, are genius; you speak teheni and sand speech. We have this magical energy within; we were taught how to control and use it. Of course, we will not show off; no, I don’t want to be dead. We will lay low. No one will find us: no Libra, no Black Brotherhood. We can survive on our own by using what we have cautiously.”
Lauro lost his breath in this hurried attempt to present his thoughts. He forgot about keeping his voice low, jumped up, and started circling the bench. When he made a pause, Belrigan put in:
”Even if we can survive on our own, which I doubt… still, we can’t simply leave our brothers. This’s out of the question. They gave us all we have, taught us everything, and we must repay. I don’t understand, Lauro. You always told me that brotherhood means a lot to you and that you never betray it… and now you are telling me the opposite!”
”That’s because the time we spent traveling opened my eyes. People live happy lives and don’t care about the law of the Five or freaking magic. I was never meant to become one of the Black Brothers. Sometimes I think when master saved me, it was against the will of Five. Probably I was meant to die on the streets… But now I have a second chance, and I don’t want to spend it for nothing! And don’t tell me about betrayal. I think I’ve already repaid the brothers for saving me through years of work. And I didn’t ask them to put this beast into my body! If I knew what was coming, I would prefer to stay a hungry waif on the street. There I was born, and should I die.”
Lauro got exhausted. He sat in the grass and hugged Belrigan’s knees, and soon Belrigan heard his sobbing.
”I could expect such a proposal from brother Antonio, not you,” Belrigan said quietly.
”So, maybe Antonio might be, right? You should be an evil bastard sometimes. Brother Belrigan, please think it through, and let’s decide tomorrow, deal? Let’s run together. Together we’ll prevail.”
“Lauro, sometimes, I’m scared too, and you can’t call yourself a bastard just because of that. What you suggest is not right. We can’t betray our master…”
”Brother Masho is a good guy; he has a kind heart and bright mind, but he does not have the strength,” Lauro continued sobbing. ”He taught us the law of Five, yes, but you know, there are many laws out there…”
“Is everything alright, boys?”
They both froze still. Lauro sniffed and quickly wiped his face with his sleeve. They didn’t notice someone approaching. It was brother Masho, their master. His tall figure towered over them, thin and dark in the faint evening light.
How long has he been standing next to us? How much has he possibly heard?
“It’s…” Belrigan’s face went pale.
"Why are you crying, Lauro?"
“Because I'm weak, master,” Lauro wiped his eyes with a sleeve, “I just got scared because of moon wolves… I had a dream last night.”
He was a much better liar than Belrigan.
Brother Masho didn't look shocked or worried, so Blerigan calmed down a little. Probably, the master didn't hear anything at all.
“A dream? You should tell me about it later, Lauro. Now, let’s go inside; we need to speak.”
”Speak? About what?”
”We need your help Belrigan to find the moon mages in this village. But first, you need to know what the payr is. Come, brothers, are waiting for us.”