“You mean the short one, right? Yes, that’s her younger sister Pekari. But you shouldn’t think about her too much. She disappeared after the war, unable to carry the burden of her crimes.” Bawarag's fists clench a bit.
“Crimes?” Sanora asks, sitting up on the ground.
“War crimes. But let’s not talk about it, it will only spoil the mood.” Bawarag shakes his head, his expression relaxing again. Sanora just nods, not pushing it any further.
“Hey lass.”
“Yeah?”
“Less talking more sweating! Get to it!” Bawarag shouts with a grin. Sanora groans.
And so, the days go by. Sanora and Bawarag keep training as the house slowly takes form. The training is hard, especially at the beginning. Bawarag keeps drilling exercises for stamina into Sanora who is in dire need of it. The house comes along smoothly with few problems. The first thing they had done though was make a small makeshift bridge across the river for convenance. Karan and a few others from the village are busy building under his guidance while Sanora was next to the site overseeing it while training. 15 days pass by in a fly. Sanora’s condition goes up by the day with rapid speed. The foundation of the house is standing, the walls already starting to rise. Amni had dug out the tree stumps and a small cellar as well, all with a wave of her hand. She swings by daily too. It is the 16th day of the construction, Bawarag and Sanora are taking a break from training on one of the few leftover tree stumps, basking in the light of dusk. The workers are already gone for the day and Amni is fetching some dinner.
“You made pretty good progress you know?” Bawarag says, his head leaning back into his hands.
“I did?” Sanora looks at him. “I figured that’s just normal.” She scratches her head.
“Normal? When we started you were wheezing in the ground after ten pushups, now you run two kilometers in the morning and do a hundred before your first break. That’s not just ‘not normal’, that’s insane lass.”
“But… in a good way?” She raises an eyebrow.
“Well of course in a good way. But it’s still odd.” Bawarag mumbles, holding his chin. Sanora just makes a humming sound and lays down, looking at the sky with a thoughtful expression.
“Anyways, I think we can stop the endurance training now.”
“We can stop!?” Sanora exclaims gleefully.
“Yes.” Bawarag nods with a smile. “And move on to the actual combat training.” Bawarag grins while Sanora’s face drops again.
“And we are starting now. It’s something simple but effective. From now on, I will throw stuff at you all throughout the day to hone your reactions and to hammer a sense of caution into you.”
“But that sound like a huge pain in the- OUCH!” Sanora rubs her forehead where the pebble hit her.
“Dammit, now?” She gives Bawarag an angry glare.
“See? You don’t want to get hit again, right? So, you better start paying good attention to you surroundings.
“Heya guys! Hope you’re hungry!” Amni calls out as she walks across the clearing, holding a wooden basket.
“Genny gave us some of the extra meat today.” She says with a smile as she sits down next to Sanora and Bawarag.
“Ohh yes, I’m starving.” Sanora says with a smile, rubbing her hands when a stone hits her again.
“Come on!? Even while we’re eating?”
“Ah, so Bawarag started going with that. Was wondering when already.” Amni nods.
“You know of this?” Sanora looks at her with raised eyebrows.
“Yeah, that method is an old favorite of his. I know it’s annoying, but trust me, you’ll thank him for it someday.” Amni smiles at her reassuringly. Sanora just sighs, accepting her fate.
“If you say so.” Out of a hunch she ducks her head, the small stone barely missing her.
“See? you’re a fast learner, I’m sure you’ll be dodging them left and right in no time.” Bawarag grins and hits her on the back.
“And now let’s eat!” he proclaims and starts taking out what’s in the basket.
“Hey don’t you dare take out the good stuff!” Amni says, almost diving for the basket too.
Sanora just leans back, looking at the two fighting over dinner like children. The last fifteen days were exhausting, but also filled with happiness and moments like these. Moments where Sanora could just kick back and relax, enjoy life with the friends she has made. Although Bawarag and Amni already start to feel more like family. She has gotten closer with the villagers too. Talking with the workers as the built her house together, with the women when they met at the river to wash clothes occasionally, and of course at the inn at night when they all drink and sing together. Truly, she felt as a part of this merry little settlement now … but still there was something. As the things keep coming together, there is something deep inside her that often stirs. The gaping hole in her soul, her missing memories. The uncertainty of who she really is, or rather used to be. It gnaws on her, leaving her restless more often than not lately. But she never tells anyone, not wanting to worry them. This is something she has to figure out by herself, or at least that’s what she thinks.
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“Everything alright?” Amni tears her out of her thoughts, looking at her a bit concerned.
“I’m alright, just tired.” Sanora smiles at her.
Some time later they are all walking down the road towards the Weary Traveler, talking about whatever trivial stuff comes to mind when the guard on the wall calls out to them.
“ ‘Evening! Done for the day aye?” He smile at them.
“We are, swinging by after your shift Gustav?” Sanora shouts back up.
“Ya can bet your pretty ass I am!” he laughs.
“The only thing I’m betting on is me drinking you under the table again!” Sanora shoots back.
“Challenge accepted!” The guard laughs as Sanora and company head on into the inn. Just when they are about to open the door, they hear a pained scream. Sanora turns around just in time to see Gustav falls of the wall, a large white object stuck in his shoulder. He hits the ground with a thud and just lies there motionless. Before Sanora can even curse, Bawarag and Amni are already halfway to the injured man. By the time Sanora reaches him Bawarag is already kneeling next to Gustav.
“Is he…?”
“Dead? No, he’ll make it.” Bawarag pulls out the white object. It looks like a giant splinter. The gaping wound it leaves closes in a second. Sanora can feel the ripple of magic around it for a moment. A loud bang draws their attention back to the gate.
“Something is coming.” Amni says, standing between the gate and the others. The gate rumbles as another loud bang resounds, wood spiltering. The other villagers have stared to come running as well.
“What happened?” Borg asks, arrow already knocked on his bow.
“We don’t know. Something shot at Gustav and now it’s-“Sanora is interrupted by another bang on the gates. The wooden beam holding them shut already cracking. It won’t hold much longer.
“What do we do?” Sanora turns to Bawarag, her heart pounding.
“Calm down lass, if it takes this long to get through the gate it won’t be a problem as long as we are here.” Bawarag says and gets up again.
“If you say so.” Sanora says, but swallows nervously. Another bang. The beam shutting the gate is about to shatter.
“Everyone stand back!” Borg shouts into the villagers that have gathered to take a look at what’s going on. Amni is in fighting stance, Sanora draws her sword and Bawarag stretches out his hand and with a faint glow, a large black warhammer appears in his grip out of nowhere. With a final bang, the beam breaks and the gates swing open violently. Sanora’s hairs stand on edge as she sees what’s on the other side. A foul creature, made entirely of bones, loose patches of skin and fur still sticking to some of them. Its ribs are of a wolf, the skull of a deer, the legs are cobbled together from bits of both. And instead of a tail an armlike appendage is fixed to its spine, ending in a three clawed hand that’s turned forward like a scorpion’s stinger.
“What in the…” Sanora looks at the horrendous creature but forces herself to get a grip on herself and without wasting more time points her hand at the monster. A second later the bright orange fireball flies at the creature and hits it square in the face, causing it to get blasted back a few meters. Gasps and screams resound from the gathered crowd, some already making a run for it to the safety of their houses.
“What the fuck is that!?” Sanora shouts as she looks at the bone construct getting back onto its feet almost unscathed.
“Good reaction lass, but fire won’t cut it against bone magic.” Bawarag says as he gets into stance. Some of the village men have carried Gustav away by now.
“Could be Trantor’s handwork, if it weren’t so sloppy.” Amni has retreated to Sanora and Bawarag, forming the first line of defense. The creature looks at them and let’s loose a nerve grating, high pitched screech.
“What do you think lass? Wanna give it a shot?” Bawarag says, his eyes locked on the foe.
“Me?” Sanora’s grip on her sword tightens. On one hand she wants to stand back, hide, and let someone more capable take care of it. Images of her near-death flash through her mind, her legs trembling. But on the other hand, this isn’t just a village out in the woods anymore. This is her home, and she is angry. She clenches her teeth and squeezes her sword with sturdy hands.
“I’ll go.” She says with her resolve gathered. Bawarag nods and Amni gives her a smile.
“We have your back lass.” Amni says. Sanora nods, and at that the creature, which has regained its bearings, runs at them with uncoordinated steps. Sanora starts a charge of her own right at the monster.
She runs at it, her sword at the ready. The foul mouth of the deer skull opens wide, about to bite at Sanora.
‘If this thing managed to beat its way through the gates, I’m done for the moment we lock weapons. Magic is dry, so all I can rely on is speed.’
She thinks and as they are about to meet Sanora comes to a sliding stop and rolls off to the side. The bite of the beast barely misses her leg and now she has a clean moment for an attack on its side. Wasting no time she swings her sword, but the bones are hard. Much harder than any of the wood she ever trained on. She puts all her strength into it, which has more than doubled over the last fifteen days thanks to Bawarag, and she just barely manages to pull through, slicing several of the ribs clean off. But she forgot about something crucial; the tail like appendage on the monsters back, which’s claws are about to dig into her face. Using the leftover momentum from her swing she pulls herself back. The claws miss her so closely she can fell the air of it graze her face. She stumbles back a few steps but manages to get her stance solid again. But she made another mistake. While she was catching herself, she didn’t pay enough attention to her opponent. In the three clawed hand of it’s tail hovers a white stake-like object, the exact same one that had struck the guard earlier. Sanora knows what’s about to come, but she has no way of reacting in time. The stake darts at her, propelled by magic it flies right at her heart. She feels a dull pain spread through her chest as if someone punched her, and the force causes her to stumble back and almost fall. But the ice-cold sting of death she expects never comes as the projectile hasn't made it through her armor. Mentally thanking Bawarag she gets back into stance to see that now the creature has made a mistake. Thinking that Sanora is out of the fight it has turned its attention back to Bawarag and Amni. Bawarag has his hands resting on the butt of his warhammer, its head on the ground. Amni just stands there with a smug smile and her arms crossed, looking at Sanora. And with good reason, as Sanora dashes at the monster, fueled now by fury after the shock passed. She makes a big overhead swing and cuts the creature’s head clean off. The deer skull drops to the ground with a thud, and the rest of the body remains standing motionless. Sanora breaths a sigh of relief and straightens up again. She smiles and turns to Bawarag and feels her blood freeze as she hears a rattling sound behind her. The only thing she sees is the sharp claw, centimeters away from here eye, and from there on things happen so fast she can barely see them