Baard opened his eyes and blinked into dazzling sunlight. Flames seemed to scorch his head, and sickness twisted through his stomach. The chirping of birds drilled into his ears. When he groaned, a head appeared above him, blurry at first, but quickly coming into focus.
“Elya,” he wheezed when he saw his sister’s closed eyes and gentle face.
“Oh, Baard,” Elya said, her voice full of tears and relief. She hugged him and kissed his cheek. “Ruah said you would wake up, but I almost didn’t believe it!”
Ruah’s head appeared beside Elya’s. She peered at him and smiled. “Welcome back, Master Baard.”
He lifted his head and let his eyes glide around, groaning as new waves of pain clenched his skull. Rows of pots with plants and herbs stood beside him and made him realize he was on the sunlit porch of Ruah’s dwelling. His fingers touched a soft mattress that might have come from the soothsayer’s bed. Fierran lay on the porch, his eyes half closed to the light of the sun, which rose above the eastern fields. What in the Wrathlands am I doing here?
A spasm drilled into his skull, and he put a hand to his forehead. His fingers touched bandages. “What happened? I was . . . hurt?”
“Hareth found you in the clearing behind the village and brought you here,” Elya said. She spoke slowly as if she weighed every word. “It was yesterday morning. Ruah left you here on the porch so she could keep an eye on you in the sun, and so you had fresh air at night. You have been out the whole time. You don’t . . . you don’t remember anything? You don’t remember the soldiers, brother?”
Dread burrowed into his stomach when he did remember. The three men in the clearing. Trotting toward them on giant warhorses. One spotting Diara. The horses’ hooves thudding closer and closer. The mace slamming into his head. And then . . . blackness.
“Diara!” he exclaimed, wincing as spasms ground his temples. He looked around again. “What happened? Where is she?”
Ruah sighed and shook her head.
Tears sprang from under Elya’s eyelids and wetted her cheeks. “She . . . We think the soldiers took her away after they knocked you out.”
The whole world spun around as Baard sat up. “Took her? No! Where?”
Ruah put her hand on his. “I have divined that they are taking her to Esgardia. But we don’t know why.”
“And nobody stopped them?” he shouted, yanking his hand away from hers. In the back of his mind, he knew that nobody had even seen the soldiers taking Diara, but he had to scream and reproach, for he would go mad with grief and remorse if he didn’t. “Nobody in the putrid village could stand up to the soldiers?”
“There were so many of them, Baard,” Elya said with a shudder. “I was here with Ruah, and at first we thought they were Daemorcs, for the villagers screamed with horror. It was terrible.”
“The neighbors say they looked for pretty girls,” Ruah said. “Thank the Sleeping Goddess that our beautiful Elya was with me, and that the trees shaded the house.” She pointed to the old oaks that spread their boughs over the roof. “A few soldiers passed by, but they didn’t even slow down. They didn’t see the shaded house, and they probably took my garden for an isolated field. We feared that Fierran would growl and attract their attention. But he behaved really well. As if he knew . . .”
Fierran flapped his tail against the planks at hearing his name, and Baard nodded. Yes, it was lucky the soldiers didn’t see Elya, for they would have taken her away. But he still wanted to cry.
Ruah peered toward the village with her crusted, bloodshot eyes.
Elya lifted her head. “Is someone coming?”
Baard looked toward the path, but it was empty. He was about to tell her when someone appeared from around a curve. “It’s Hareth.”
Ruah nodded as if she had already divined it.
Hareth came slowly, stumbling with his hands stretched in front of him when he had to pass a shadowed stretch. He had cut off the fringe of his hair that kept falling over his eyes.
Baard tried to stand, but a dizzy spell kept him sitting. “Is it true?” he asked as Hareth approached. “Did Diara truly disappear?”
He hoped to hear that she had returned, but Hareth’s shoulders slumped. “Yes, she’s gone, Baard,” he said, his voice breaking.
Suddenly, Baard was furious. “And you? Why didn’t you go and try to save her?”
Hareth looked perplexed. “But, brother, there were dozens of soldiers. What could I do? Fight them all? I could have, of course . . . but I couldn’t find my damned sword! Besides, she was with you, and I hoped you would protect her.”
Those last words hurt more than the blow of the mace.
“You could have at least stalked them,” Baard said meekly. “And you could have rescued Diara when they set camp for the night.”
“I think you forget that I cannot see at night, unlike you,” Hareth said with a frown, crossing his arms over his chest.
New red-hot needles of pain bored into Baard’s head. They nearly sent tears into his eyes, but the ache calmed him.
“I’m sorry, you are right, Hareth,” he said. “But I can see, and I’ll go and save her.”
Elya opened her mouth. Although he thought she would beg him to stay, she said, “And I’ll go with you, Baard. To me, it’s always night, and I’m used to it. And Fierran can sniff the soldiers out.”
Baard frowned. Having Fierran would help, but he worried that Elya would slow him while there was no time to lose. But how could he tell his sister that he thought she was dead weight?
“But what about Mother?” he asked.
“Mother has been urging us to go for days,” Elya said. “She’s been urging both of us! And when she finds out that Diara is gone, she would be mad if we showed the slightest hesitation.” She turned to Ruah. “Do you think we could catch up with the soldiers, dear soothsayer?”
Ruah peered into oblivion, her forehead wrinkling in concentration. “I feel there’s trouble in Blizzardshore,” she said after a while. “The soldiers might be raiding the town as we speak, trying to capture more maidens. Then they will sail back to Esgardia, which they will reach in two days if the sea is favorable.
“If you leave now, you can reach Blizzardshore before nightfall. But I am afraid that the soldiers will be long gone by then. Nevertheless, if you hire a fast craft and set sail before dawn, you might catch up with the soldiers’ ship before it reaches Esgardia. And then, well, then you would have to watch and see if you can do anything to save Diara.”
Baard tried to process her words, but his anguish and pain made it nearly impossible. His head buzzed, and he wanted to lie down and cry.
The soothsayer thought for a while, and then she said, “I shall go with you. I know the road to Blizzardshore well, and I was born in the town. If the soldiers have truly left for Esgardia, I will negotiate with the locals to let you board a ship to follow them. I know everybody there, at least the older folk.”
“It would be great to have you, dear soothsayer,” Elya said, beaming. Then she frowned and added, “But who would take care of Mother and Father?”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Ruah scowled as if she wanted to say that Father should be a man and take care of Mother. Then her face softened. “I know you are worried, my dear, and that shows that you have a good heart.”
Elya smiled, but then she turned pensive. “Perhaps I should stay, then.”
Baard thought it was a good idea. He only regretted that Fierran wouldn’t go with him without her. Part of him realized he was being selfish, but he was too desperate to find Diara to care.
Ruah shook her head. “No, Elya, you need to go. This is your quest as much as Baard’s.”
Baard raised his eyebrows. What did she mean by that? What did Elya have to do with Diara? Ruah had to be talking about the curse, for she had been hinting that Elya’s Might could help him break it. Did she still expect him to chase a Wrathlord, though? He had to save Diara!
Ruah gave him a deep look. “Sometimes, there are strong links between seemingly unconnected things, Master Baard.”
Baard frowned in thought. Did she mean that Diara’s kidnapping was linked to the curse? He wanted to ask her, but Elya said, “Then who is going to take care of Mother? And who is going to bring food to the house when Baard won’t be here to bring firewood for the oven?”
“I am,” Ruah said. “I will give her enough food and medicine for two days, and I’ll be back before it runs out. I will take you to Blizzardshore, secure you a place on a ship, spend the night, and return tomorrow before dusk.”
“Oh, thank you,” Elya said. “Thank you!”
“I am certain that many villagers will start bringing food to your parents when they hear about your quest,” Ruah said. “And if they don’t, I will.”
“You thought of everything, dear soothsayer,” Elya said, her voice brimming with admiration.
Baard felt they had left him out again. But he could also call shots. Turning to his best friend, he said, “You should go with us, Hareth. Diara is your sister, after all, and we need a strong and brave man like you.”
Hareth opened his mouth and shifted his eyes as if he wanted to refuse. Then he gulped, grinned, and said, “Of course I’m going. I was getting worried you wouldn’t ask, brother-in-law! Just wait till I wield my sword at the soldiers! Hilts and blades! They will be sorry for ever stepping into my village and messing with my family.”
Baard almost smiled when he imagined the soldiers’ scared looks as Hareth attacked them. But Ruah and Elya frowned.
The soothsayer cleared her throat. “Well, that is settled, then. We should leave as soon as possible if we want to reach Blizzardshore before twilight. Hareth, go get your horse and your sword. And you, twins, go bid farewell to your parents and get Whitecap ready. We will meet at your hut as soon as I get my horse and the supplies and medicines for your mother.”
“Can you get up, Baard?” Elya asked. “And will you be able to ride all the way to Blizzardshore?”
Before he could reply, Ruah said with a smile, “Love is the strongest medicine. Even for a cracked skull.”
Baard raised his eyes. Love? Did the soothsayer think that he loved Diara? But there was no time to ponder over it. He got to his feet and staggered as the world spun around. He took a few deep breaths, and the dizzy spell passed. “Let’s go.”
As Ruah entered her house, Fierran nuzzled Elya, who gently took him by the gray hackles on the back of his neck and let him lead her toward the village. The boys followed, both stumbling, Hareth in shadows and Baard from dizziness. He wondered how he could endure the long ride to Blizzardshore, despite what Ruah had said.
As they reached the market square, Hareth turned to Baard. “Don’t let my father see you. He wants to kill you because he knows you were with Diara in the clearing when they took her.” He thought for a while. “I’d better not tell him that I am leaving with your lot. I’ll just get my sword and my horse, and I’ll send him a message by Ruah when she returns. I’ll come to your place in a moment.”
Hareth crossed the square to go to his house, and the twins went on to theirs. The doors of many dwellings hung on broken hinges, and flames had charred the sidewall of Master Thatcher’s pigsty. Baard shuddered as they passed a crimson stain on the ground.
“Those damned soldiers,” he said. “Good thing Hareth is going with us. He’s the strongest and bravest man in the village.”
“Or so he says,” Elya murmured.
Baard opened his mouth to tell her she was being unfair, but his head hurt too much to argue. Hareth would soon prove her wrong.
Their hut was unscathed, perhaps because it stood at the end of the village, and the soldiers might not have even seen it. They entered without saying another word.
Father sat at the table like a spoiled child that wanted to be fed. He peered at them and sniffed, and when he realized they brought no food, he took a swig from a bottle of plum brandy. He never asked whether Baard was well.
Baard ignored him and sat on the bed beside Mother, who peered at him and smiled.
“My dear boy, you are back,” she said in her raspy voice, taking a breath between nearly every word. “Ruah said you would come to. I’m so glad she was right, as usual. Are you alright?”
Baard nodded and took her hand, which used to be warm and strong, but which was now cold and skeletal. For the first time, he realized he might not see her again, for either of them might die any day, and tears crept into his eyes. Where was his quest going to take him? Something was telling him that he wouldn’t return home anytime soon.
“Dear Mother,” he said, his voice breaking. “I’m well, but, I must, we must— You see, the soldiers took Diara, and Elya and I have to go and rescue her. I promise to be back as soon as we can.”
Before Mother could reply, Father said, “So you are going to leave your Mother to save the daughter of that worm who calls me a thief?”
“But Father,” Elya said. “Don’t you see how Baard suffers? Don’t you know how much he loves the girl?”
Baard scratched his forehead. Love again? If both the soothsayer and his clairvoyant sister believed he loved Diara—it had to be true!
Father murmured under his breath, scowling. He took another swig and coughed.
“We cannot choose our fathers,” Elya said, pointedly. “And the mayor has nothing to do with it. Besides, Ruah will take care of Mother. She will only take us to Blizzardshore and be back tomorrow evening.”
Father scoffed. “Oh, so you are going to leave your Mother to save the daughter of that worm who calls me a thief—but you will let a witch take care of your Mother instead. How nice!”
Baard’s hackles bristled. It should have been Father who took care of Mother in their absence, but he was a hopeless drunkard. He had done nothing but sulk and drink ever since Mother had taken ill, and it was up to him, Baard, and his poor blind sister to try to bring food to their home.
“Let them be, husband,” Mother said, as sharply as her weak voice allowed her. She smiled at the twins and said, “They must go!” She said it vehemently and, for a moment, her eyes shone with their old luster, and blood rushed to her gray cheeks. She turned her head to Elya. “Sit beside your brother, my dear girl. I want my children by my side, at least for a moment.”
Elya sat beside Baard and placed her hand over his and Mother’s. Tears gushed from under her closed eyelids. Baard’s eyes stung as if on fire. Only Mother’s eyes were dry, but the bottomless sorrow that pooled in them was hard to bear.
Fierran whimpered and put his head on Elya’s lap. Father murmured at the table, but everyone ignored him.
“I’m glad you understand, dear Mother,” Elya said. “This is not about saving Diara only. There is the curse, too.”
I don’t care about that, Baard thought bitterly. Not when Diara is in the hands of those brutes.
“I do understand, my dear children,” Mother said. “In my younger days, boys and girls of your age had to spend a week alone in the woods before they were considered adults. May this be your rite of passage.”
Baard thought that a week in the woods was nothing compared to what was awaiting them.
Mother continued, “Don’t mind your father. You must do what you were predestined to do. And I am very proud of you, both of you.”
As she said that, Mother gazed at Elya, and then she shot a meaningful look at Baard. He wondered what it was all about. First, Ruah had said it was Elya’s mission as much as his, and now this look . . . Did they think he and Elya were predestined to break the curse together? Was there a link between Diara’s abduction and the curse?
Mother started coughing, her forehead wrinkling, her face going gray, then crimson, then deathly white. The cough was deep and gurgling, and Baard could almost hear it tear at her throat. When the attack passed, she moaned half in pain half in relief. Blood trickled over her chin.
Baard wiped the blood with a handkerchief that lay beside Mother’s pillow, and which was already more crimson than white. Then he stroked Mother’s hair. He hadn’t done it since he was little, and he felt awkward and ashamed. But the happy, grateful look on Mother’s face told him he had done the right thing.
A horse neighed outside the hut, either Ruah’s or Hareth’s, and Whitecap answered from the stable, excitedly as if she knew she was to go on an adventure.
“You must get ready, my dear children,” Mother said. “You must pack warm things in case . . .” Her voice broke. With a sigh, she said, “But sit with me just one more moment.”
She blinked fast to keep her tears in. Baard’s eyes also got wet when he imagined how many tears she would shed when she was left alone with that callous ruin of a man Father had become.
Did Baard really have to go? Of course he did. But why wouldn’t Elya stay here with Mother? Although she couldn’t see, she could do most chores, and she knew her way around the village well enough to fetch water or go to friendly neighbors for help if necessary. Also, she could try to keep Father in line.
He turned to Elya and took a deep breath to tell her. She turned to him, and so much sadness and defiance twisted her face that he cleared his throat and said nothing.
“Hug me, my children,” Mother said.
He wrapped his arms around her neck and pressed his face against hers while Elya put her head on his shoulder and hugged both him and Mother. They had often done that when they were little, and the feeling of nostalgia was so strong that Baard thought his heart would burst.
Mother wrapped her arms around them. Her embrace was surprisingly tight, but she let go a moment later. “You must leave now, dear children. I will pray to the Sleeping Goddess and all the good spirits to keep you safe along the journey. But now—go.”