Garnachi did not survive the battle. When they found him, ten dead Narjee surrounded him. The man himself was covered in wounds and probably should have died far earlier than he did. A warrior by every right.
I watched from a distance away as Uncle Finneus offered an Elven blessing to the man. It was odd to see such a sacred tradition of our race being performed on a human. But in this instance, I kept my mouth shut. I could not help but acknowledge the courage of the man and too felt that he deserved the rest offered by such a tradition. Though Garnachi had been a man far past his prime, it was clear that one’s prime had little to do with who died and who lived on the battlefield. Garnachi was a unique creature, for he not only killed his brother. But also killed almost half of the Narjee that had allied with him. There were many men to bear witness to his might and speak for him in the land of the dead.
Uncle Finneus arose and finished the blessing, before walking over to me. “Come along Bartholomew. It’s time to go home.”
I cocked my head to the side, “Are we not going to search through the artifacts and spells here? Isn’t that one of the main reasons we came?”
Uncle Finneus waved a hand. “I already know everything I need to at the moment. The Narjee have promised to send me all the artifacts they find that they don’t know what to do with. Or at least the dangerous ones. We might not be getting everything I wanted. But at this point, it is what it is. There is too much loss here at the moment, Bartholomew. Let’s go home so we can drink. I think I’ll have some whiskey.”
In the house on 102 Golden Trout Lane, Uncle Finneus sat in his tall, backed chair, building a tower out of straight needles as he sipped on whiskey. I, on the other hand, leafed through a magic textbook questioning if it would be easier to understand if I held it upside down. The book covered the history and design of the first mass transportation vehicles and was dryer than the desert in winter.
Thoroughly disgusted with the book, I gave up, slammed it shut, and turned to my uncle. “Uncle Finneus, I have questions about what happened with the Narjee. The situation in total does not seem wholly transparent to me.”
Uncle Finneus stayed focused on his tower. His one hand holding a straight needle, the other his glass of whiskey. Still solely attentive to the task at hand, he remarked, “Ask away Bartholomew. I’ll explain everything as best as I can.”
I sighed at Uncle Finneus’s need to make everything a ‘teachable’ moment. Forcing me to think of the correct questions for him to answer. If I did not ask the right questions, I did not get the information I wanted. Even though half the time, I didn’t know what that was. In response to my frustration, he would often say “The beginning of every solution is a problem. It is not a vague foreboding that creates answers, but a specific, focused issue that acts like a seed sheath between your teeth. Where there is nothing to be done, but to find the answer.”
Back in the sitting room, I nodded my head, accepting that the game had started. I took a second to try and organize my thoughts on what had happened before I asked my first question. “How much did you know of Garnachi’s and Mashda’s relationship before that night?”
Uncle Finneus glanced up at me with a curious look, “Why start with that question?”
I offered a maligned look to my uncle, “It’s because you cheat. You always start with more information than I do. The whole time I was working with less information than you. It seems unfair. Maybe if I already knew everything you did, I would understand how you did what you did.”
Much to my annoyance, this caused Uncle Finneus to chuckle. “Well, Bartholomew, I knew Garnachi from a few years ago. But I did not even know of the existence of his brother, let alone the whole backstory to go with it. As for the rest, I already told you about the monster incident.”
Uncle Finneus spread his arms wide, gesturing to the room as a whole. “You know as much about the case as I do. Of course, this does not mean that you have my knowledge and my expertise. But you have all the facts. It's about what you make of them, and if you pick up on the small, specific details that are sitting before you. There is no magical diary that told me about the case, I followed everything, just as you did. Now, ask your questions.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Still annoyed, I thought for a second and asked a question I was confused about. “How is it that Garnachi was able to cut through the shield Mashda had created from his magic? I am not sensitive to such things, but even I felt the power in that shield. It does not make sense that he was able to pierce through it.”
Uncle Finneus was nodding his head, before I even finished my question. “While I am no expert on the complexities of Narjee magic, I do know that the warriors of the tribe have at least some basic training in matrix breaking. Garnachi must have guessed what spell Mashda was going to use and applied the matrix breaker for that spell. I do not know how he could have guessed, perhaps it's because they are twins. But he must have applied it well before they entered the salt mine and only activated it when the time was right. He took a massive risk, but it paid off. I looked at his weapon after blessing Garnachi’s body, and sure enough, there was evidence of a matrix breaker being placed on it.” Uncle Finneus shook his head, “What an idiot. Given he hadn’t seen his brother in a couple of years, the probability that Mashda would use that spell as his first defense has to have been incredibly low. What a waste, for such an idiot like Garnachi to die like that.”
“Oh, okay,” I said. I had never heard of ‘matrix breaking’ but Uncle Finneus appeared to be grieving Garnachi still, so I moved on. “My other question is about both Mashda and Garnachi. It doesn’t quite make sense for Mashda to do what he did, or for Garnachi to do what he did for that matter. He sacrificed himself to kill Mashda quickly. Did he really need to do that? And when Garnachi was telling his story, why didn’t Mashda finish off the revolution he had started? Instead, he slunk back into the shadows and started experimenting with humans. Given how he looked, I’m guessing it was some sort of immortality drug or something. But he could have just gained the power he wanted in the tribe Garnachi had solidified his power. He might have even convinced Garnachi to follow under his leadership. Instead, he disappeared and not only allowed Garnachi to claim his power but also lessened his influence within the tribe by doing so. None of that follows with the idea of him being a power-hungry sociopath that he was made out to be.”
Uncle Finneus shook his head, “At first glance, it might appear that way if you look at the situation from a vacuum. But understand that even evil people have relationships. And perhaps, rank the lives of those close to them above other things.”
I scoffed, “You’re saying that a man who kidnapped babies, and planned the death of his own father could love someone else like that? Uncle Finneus, Mashda warped the babes of his own species with wild beasts and then released those abominations to wander the world in agony. Do you really think that man would have decided to step down for fear of killing his brother?”
Uncle Finneus frowned at me. “Do not think Bartholomew, that because you have not felt something before, other people also cannot. But I do understand where you are coming from. If we were looking at this from a more practical view, you have to consider that Mashda may have lost his backing. Those who were pushing him had already gotten what they wanted, the death of the previous chief. With him out of the way, there was no reason to support Mashda and destabilize the tribe even more. Mashda most likely had no choice but to retreat as there was no way forward.
Now as for why Garnachi went and attacked Mashda like a man who wanted to die. The relationship of two siblings, let alone twins, can go both ways. You know each other and tend to either turn a blind eye to the other’s faults or hate them for it. In this case, it would appear that Garnachi turned a blind eye, and did not take responsibility for Mashda. Garnachi believed his hands were stained with the same blood that stained Mashda’s. And as the man he was, he felt he had to do everything to make up for his failure.”
I shrugged, “It’s not as if Mashda was doing it in front of Garnachi. How could he have known? Garnachi made it clear that Mashda had been operating in a secret base.”
Uncle Finneus frowned at me, shaking his head. “The man we met, was someone who carried a guilty conscience. And he had carried it for many nights.”
There was a pause, while I sought some response to the statement. I found nothing, and we both fell into silence for a moment. “We won. But it doesn’t feel like it. You know?” I said.
“Won?” asked Uncle Finneus.
I waved a hand in the air. “You know, the case. We found a way and helped stop Mashda. But then Garnachi died. It just doesn’t feel like we won at anything this time.”
“Child, this is no game to be won or lost. Humans, dwarves, and any other of the other species may not live as long as us, they may not even be as intelligent, but there is value to their lives. Do not be so capricious as to treat their lives as anything less than what they are. A few of them almost killed you in that little skirmish we had, Bartholomew. It is best to respect those creatures, who stand up and challenge the world, as equals.”
“But their…” I stopped myself mid-sentence and then changed the subject. “Uncle Finneus, you never did tell me if you knew why Mashda did all of this in the first place. I mentioned that immortal medicine thing, but you didn’t say anything about that. Even if he had never become chief, it’s not like he couldn’t have developed power. To some extent, it sounded like he did. So why all the extracurriculars?”
“I would hate to go hunting with you, nephew, there would be no meat left even before it died.” Uncle Finneus sighed, “There are many types of power, Bartholomew.”
He paused, whether it was for effect, or he was gathering his thoughts I do not know. “One of the best and the worst thing about humans is their instinctive need to change and adapt every second of every day. Whether it is to grow, become better at something, or destroy someone else. They all feel a need for it. It is perhaps a part of the destiny of their race.
That being said, while everything is explainable, there could be a myriad of reasons for why Mashda did what he did. Maybe he had come across the answer for immortality at a heavy cost. But the full truth of it died with Mashda and Garnachi. We can only guess at the answers to such questions.”
The End.