Kole jerked still when Mitchell and Allora came walking back into the cave. Mitchell saw that he had worked himself up into a sitting position and appeared to be perspiring. Glancing around the cave, Mitchell didn’t spot Lethelin. Instead he saw the two yulops, waiting for the packs to be secured to their harnesses, and a shadow cat with a very swollen belly laying comatose next to the dying fire, absorbing the warmth.

“Leth?” Mitchell called out.

Like a ghost, she appeared, about a meter to the left of their prisoner.

Kole let out a cry and jerked away so hard he almost managed to roll himself over.

“Stollar’s swinging cock!” the man croaked before groaning at the pain of whatever Allora had done to his chest. He began to cough.

Lethelin gave a full-toothed grin, thoroughly enjoying his shock and surprise.

“He was trying to cut the ropes on the rocks. It was fun to watch him wiggle about so I let him keep trying.”

“What in the nine hells kind of magic is that?!” Kole demanded as he tried to right himself with his hands and legs bound.

“Nothing you need to worry about,” Mitchell said before stepping up to the man.

“You talk funny,” Kole muttered.

“I get that a lot.”

“Kill me or let me go,” he demanded. “I’m pissing, either way.”

Mitchell made a face and then stared for a long time at the pitiful wretch of a man. He’d been a proud guardsman once. Now he was filthy, unshaven, and drunk. What would Mitchell have done in his situation? The man had had his whole world turned upside down. He’d lost his wife, his monarch, his kingdom, his job, his home, and his purpose all in a single night. Was Mitchell any better than he was?

Mitchell drew his sword and the prisoner went still, eyes watching the blade. He licked his lips and Mitchell thought he could see a fresh burst of sweat begin to bead on the filthy man’s forehead.

He closed the distance but, rather than run him through with his sword, He placed it at the ropes of the man’s ankles and sliced the bindings free. Unlike Kole, Mitchell took good care of his blade and while the angle was a little awkward, the sharpened steel cut through the cordage easily enough. Not waiting for further comment Mitchell bent down and grabbed Kole by the front of the shirt and hauled him to his feet. He was surprised at how easy it was.

“Walk,” Mitchell ordered and pushed him forward towards the mouth of the cave. Lethelin and Allora followed behind, neither speaking. “And would someone grab his sword, please?”

Lethelin nodded and snatched it up from the ground where Allora had left it.

When they emerged outside, the day had progressed far enough that the sun was creeping up the slopes of the mountain. It was a truly beautiful morning. The sky was crystal blue with only a few clouds visible. The breeze carried with it the scent of the forest below and Mitchell felt a tug in his chest. He recognized it as almost a good morning from Awen as if to say ‘I see you and acknowledge you, too.’ The sensation filled him with awe. His mind was quickly brought back to the task at hand.

“What are we doing?” Kole asked, his voice quavering.

“Be quiet,” Mitchell ordered, and they waited. It wasn’t long before Kole began to fidget but Mitchell held him firmly.

The sun continued its creep up the mountain slopes as it traveled west and Mitchell watched the line of daylight draw closer. Once it was touching the top of Kole’s head he finally spoke.

“I want you to swear by Stollar’s holy light that you will take this second chance and use it wisely. You will not steal again and you will do your best to live an honorable life.

“What?” Kole said, looking back at where Mitchell stood behind him. “You’re not going to kill me?”

Mitchell stared into the drunk man’s bloodshot eyes. He noted again the ruddy cheeks, the swollen nose, the unkempt beard with bits of food and who knows what else still dried in it. He took in the man’s rank body odor and could even see the lice picking their way through his hair. He’d rarely seen such a pathetic specimen of a human being. Maybe among fentanyl addicts that lined the streets of Phoenix in their tents and lean-tos, perhaps. But not this close.

“Swear it if you wish to go free.”

“I swear!” Kole stammered. “I swear under Stollar’s holy light that I will not steal again and try to lead an honorable life. I swear.”

Mitchell studied him closely. He knew he was taking a chance with this but he decided to believe what Allora had told him about the gods. Oaths sworn to Stollar in his light carried weight. They weren’t empty words. He hoped that it would be enough to keep Kole on the right path going forward. Mitchell knew this wasn’t his home, he knew that things were different here, but he couldn’t find the strength to execute someone. And he wouldn’t dare ask Allora or Lethelin to do it. Allora was right, the decision was his. He had decided to show mercy.

Mitchell looked back to Lethelin.

“May I have that?” he asked, and pointed to the guardsman’s sword.

She placed it into his hand pommel first, and he spun Kole around to face him and held the blade up in front of his face.

“You are no longer deserving of this weapon.”

With a powerful overhand swing, Mitchell brought the rusted sword down on a nearby rock, striking it with the flat of the blade. With a sharp twang and a snapping sound, the blade broke into three pieces. Kole flinched back at the explosion, fearing one of the shards might strike him, but they sailed clear.

Mitchell spun Kole back around and, with the remaining few inches of the sword, he carved through the ropes at the man’s elbows and wrists. Once they were free, Mitchell gave him a shove forward.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Now, get out of here.”

Kole Norwell, once of the city guard of Lorivin, stumbled forward, still slightly drunk, and nearly landed on his face. He righted himself and spun around, perhaps thinking they were going to kill them anyway.

“You’re really going to let me go? Just like that?”

Rather than answer, Mitchell brought up his sevith and fired three quick arcane bolts at the man’s feet, sending up a shower of loose rocks.

“Balls and taint!” Kole screamed and fell back, landing solidly on his ass.

“Go!” Mitchell barked at him. The man crab walked backward losing his footing more than once before he got to his feet and took off running as fast as he dared down the slope. One arm was pressed tightly to his right side where his injured ribs caused him pain but he still moved like death was right behind him. Mitchell watched Kole until he ducked behind some boulders and vanished from sight.

He turned back around to find both of the girls staring at him. Lethelin with a look of consternation on her face, and Allora looking… Well, he didn’t know how she looked. Her face had gone flat.

“I didn’t want to execute him,” Mitchell explained. “I didn’t want my first official act in Awenor to be taking someone’s life. Not like that.”

“I would have done it,” Lethelin said. “Free of charge! He’s a thief and a murderer!”

This got a reaction out of Allora. She turned an incredulous violet eye on Lethelin.

“And what are you?”

“That is totally different!” Lethelin said, trying to defend herself. “I only stole from people who could afford it. And those I killed were no loss to anyone. If anything, the crown should have been paying me for my services. I was doing the people of Awenor a favor!”

Allora rolled her eyes so hard Mitchell thought she might hurt herself.

“Lady Vish, give me strength,” Allora pleaded gazing towards the heavens. “Your humble child is being asked to endure more than is possible!”

“Oh, stop being so dramatic,” Lethelin snapped.

As fun as their spats could be, Mitchell decided to head this one off before either of them built up a head of steam.

“I couldn’t ask you to do it, Leth. I wouldn’t ask you or Allora to do something I wasn’t willing to do myself.”

“Oh,” Lethelin said as he distracted her from whatever she had been about to say to Allora. “I guess that’s okay then. You might be okay at this leadership thing.”

“Would you see to the packs, please?” he asked her, chuckling.

“As my lord commands,” she said and gave him smile and a bow before skipping back to the cavern.

“Buuut,” she called back in a sing song voice. “My lord can suck on the ass end of a clorvol if he thinks I’m touching his furry little hell beast!”

Allora broke out into a giggle despite herself and he saw her cheeks flush.

“She does have a way with words,” the knight said, almost in admiration.

“That she does.”

Mitchell walked up beside her and tossed the remains of the broken sword into a clump of bushes.

“Do you think I did the right thing?”

“I do not know,” she said somberly, her smile fading. “I think you acted according to your conscience and that you have a noble heart. But I cannot say if it was the right thing.”

“Mercy is the mark of a great man,” Mitchell intoned, remembering the line from an old TV show back home.

“Is that so?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I’m making this up as I go along.”

Allora smiled and brought her forehead to his.

“There is one here who already thinks that you are great.”

He returned her grin.

***

Mitchell stopped just at the edge where the grass started to grow uninterrupted. One more step and he would be officially off the mountain and in Awenor. It was an arbitrary line and he told himself he was being more than a little stupid but he stared at the boundary just the same. He turned then and looked back the way he had come – at the impossibly large peaks that were so high as to be almost unreal, their tops, shrouded in swirling mists and seeming to pierce the very heavens themselves. The Skybreaker Peaks were well-named. He thought of everything he had been through to get to this point.

The things he had seen, the people he’d met, and what he’d learned so far boggled his mind if he stopped to think about it. The distance he had traveled was not just in miles, kilometers, or leagues. He was so much more now than he was that night she had found him. Hell, the Universe was more! He knew he couldn’t go back now, even if he’d wanted to. Somewhere on this path he walked, home had become Tewadunn. Awenor was where he belonged.

“Mitchell?”

He turned back around and saw Allora looking at him expectantly a few meters further on.

“She had come with another guy, but she was going home with me.”

Home was where Allora was. Just the sight of her, with her pale violet eyes and her long black hair blowing in the breeze, made his heart beat faster.

“Sorry,” he said, a little chagrined. “I just… I can’t believe we crossed that. On foot. It doesn’t seem possible.”

Mitchell found he was too embarrassed to say what he was really thinking. It felt too childish to say out loud.

It was her turn to stare up at the mind-bending size of this continental divide.

“By the time Lorivast, the first to bond with Awen, crossed the peaks with his band of adventurers, the lands west of the mountains had been empty for several hundred years.

She closed the distance to him, pulling Tammi with her, and took his hand in hers while they watched the mist settle gently around the peaks. Vras was in the satchel, although he barely fit now, dozing as he usually did during the daylight hours.

“Yuliana had claimed it for herself and none were allowed in without her express permission. In truth, the stories say, she rarely visited here. She preferred her lair in the northeast, near the Glass Sea. Her most trusted dragons, Udranth being one of them, guarded the passes and it was death to cross without her seal. Even if she never went there, it was hers and dragons are selfish and greedy by nature. It was part of her hoard and that she never looked upon it was irrelevant.”

Mitchell grunted. Lethelin, who had been pulling up the rear with Marvin, was walking slowly, and cursing. Apparently, Marvin had decided he wanted to eat the new grass and she was constantly having to pull his head away from the fresh green shoots.

“Did she know about Awen?”

“Yes. The dragons had an uneasy peace with the elementals. They understood their function and that they helped maintain the health of the land they claimed, so they did not interfere. It was not until after their regime fell that the greed of the mortal races turned to a fresh source of wealth and they started hunting and killing them. But the work of rebuilding the already settled territories took generations and there was little interest in exploring the lands to the west.”

“Some help would be appreciated,” Lethelin snapped. “Instead of standing there and gawking at the mountains like a couple of fish-brained cloud addicts!”

Lethelin pulled up Marvin’s head for the umpteenth time. The disgruntled animal bleated and moved to nip her leg for her impertinence and she danced back.

“Knock it off, you big dumb beast or you’ll be what we eat for dinner tonight!”

Marvin exhaled forcefully through his nose and glared back at her.

Mitchell laughed.

“We need to stop anyway, go ahead and let him graze for a bit.”

“Ugh! Go then! I’m tired of your smell, anyway.”

Lethelin flung the lead up over Marvin’s head and it landed between a couple of the packs on his back and stayed put. Marvin immediately turned, showing Lethelin his ass, and began munching. But before Lethelin could turn away, the animal let out a surprisingly loud fart aimed right in Lethelin’s direction.

Lethelin gaped at the audacity of the pack animal until the smell hit her. Then she heaved like she was going to vomit.

“Stollar’s taint!” she gasped as she stumbled away coughing from the odor.

Mitchell and Allora were rolling with laughter, tears streaming down both of their faces as the thief came up even with them. She took in a couple of clean breaths and glared at them.

“I hate you,” she growled, and stalked farther down the slight hill with as much dignity as she could muster.

It took a few minutes for he and Allora to calm down but their grins would stay in place for a good while. Together, the two of them crossed that line from mountain to field. Even though it was completely imaginary, Mitchell didn’t care.

“I’m home.”