“Hold up!” exhaled Tane Ellantri sharply, doubling over next to a tree, gasping for air. His body ached all over. His face was shiny with sweat, his clothing drenched. He slumped against the tree and began sliding down to the grass.
Qenn turned back. “Tane!”
“Qenn. I’m dizzy.”
Qenn rushed back and knelt beside his brother. “Take a few minutes. Get your breath. We’ve been running for hours.”
Qenn produced a smooth brown pouch from his waist-belt and began to trickle water into Tane’s mouth. After a few moments, Tane was able to drink on his own.
Qenn looked around them. The forest was quiet. “We’ll fill up once we get to the Krune. Give me a minute, and I’ll get you something to eat.”
They were midway through a thicket, moving towards the eastern edge of the Lower Krune, still days away from Skadar Port. With Takers and the last vision of their mother fresh in their minds, they had all the fuel necessary to keep moving through the night and into the morning. They navigated by the stars and stayed far from the main roads, far from anyone or anything. With the morning sun spilling light through the gaps in the foliage, the two brothers allowed a brief rest.
Qenn spoke softly. “I can still feel them.”
Tane understood. He was also having a hard time shaking off their presence. “Rest, Qenn. Regain some strength.”
Qenn’s mind was still back in Meadow. “I keep thinking that any moment I’ll wake up and this would all be just…”
“When your father died,” Tane began, “I became closer to her. She was the only one who could tell me about my own father. I kept hoping that someday she would tell me something else. Something that she had kept secret.”
“Something that would fill the void.” Qenn added, knowing how his brother felt at never seeing his own father. Qenn’s mother had told them both that he had died before Tane was born. Years later, she met an elf and married. A year later, Qenn was conceived.
“Just…anything else.” Tane looked to Qenn. “Don’t take it the wrong way. Your father raised me as his own, and I loved him very much. But a piece of me will always wonder what my blood-father was like.”
Qenn understood. He patted his brother on the shoulder.
They were quiet then for a few minutes, before Tane stood to his feet and scanned the woods around them, towering over his brother, who now was slumped against a tree.
“We won’t make it much farther without food. Wait here. I won’t be far.”
Qenn nodded, far too emotionally drained to speak, and watched dim-eyed as his brother walked towards some bushes, then disappeared within them.
Qenn cried instantly. The tears came just as they had all night. The image of his mother’s face wouldn’t leave him. The fact that he had not been there to save her would haunt him forever. His face ached from crying, but he couldn’t stop. He had searched long and hard for reasons, but came up empty. And he could feel a piece of him being torn, his heart was breaking in a way he never thought was possible.
Tane stepped through a tangle of brush and saplings, making his way towards a bush that grew red berries, not wandering out of shouting distance from his sibling. As he reached the bush, he picked a handful of berries and tasted them hastily.
Sour!
Instantly he exploded in rage, striking at the bush with his sword. His teeth clenched tight, his dark eyes narrowed, filled with hatred. His skin twisted and contorted as his emotions finally got the best of him and he could no longer keep his pain bottled up. Striking and hacking at the bush, using wide arching swings, slicing through the leafy branches as if they were nothing, Tane escaped within his thoughts, back to the house where he was battling the Takers. For several long minutes he swung his sword, as fast as he could, as hard as he could muster, until his sword was cutting only air. He stopped then, realizing what he had done, and looked at the mulch of a bush before him.
Tane was exhausted. He sheathed his weapon once more at his side and wiped the tears he couldn’t hold back. It had been a long time since he had cried. And since then he had carefully constructed walls so he wouldn’t be hurt again. Until now.
He closed his eyes briefly and said his goodbye to his mother.
After a few moments, he gathered his composure, straightened his broad frame, and began the search for food.
Slumped against a tree, Qenn was asleep when a hand firmly grasped his shoulder. His head looked up immediately to see what he thought would be a monster cloaked in black, but it was more a reflection looking back. “I can’t stop thinking that if we never would have left, then none of this would have happened. She would be safe still. She’d be alive.”
With a face nearly as ragged as Qenn’s, Tane looked down and dropped the fruit he carried. “It’s not your fault, Qenn. Look at me.”
Qenn did as he was asked, his face nothing more than one tear smeared from ear to ear, from forehead to chin. “I can’t accept it.”
“Listen to me, Qenn. I have no idea what happened, or why they attacked her, but I do know it’s not our fault.” His voice stayed firm, but comforting. He wanted to make sure that his brother knew he would be safe. He hugged Qenn tight again, and this time he felt the other do it back. “Focus on getting to the Krune, then Skadar Port. We might be able to find some answers there, and that’s the best we can hope for now.”
“I know.”
“Someday we’ll go back and this mess will be forgotten.” Even as Tane said it, he didn’t believe it. None of it would be forgotten. He was merely trying to comfort Qenn. “We should try to rest.”
Qenn nodded. “You want to sleep first?”
“No. I’ll take first watch.”
Tane watched Qenn stretch himself along the base of the tree, using his cloak for a pillow, looking up at him.
“Tane, I’m glad you’re with me.” Seconds later, his eyes shut and he was asleep.
Tane stared at his brother for a second longer then walked a few paces and settled against an old tree where he could see anything approaching from the east, west, and south. Anything from the north would have to pass through several yards of picker bushes without sound. An unlikely scenario, he thought, so he felt comfortable with his position.
He began thinking of their situation. Skadar Port was an outlaw’s town, run by thieves and worse, where there was no law, or more perhaps there was no one who cared to abide by it. It was a rough town and outsiders were seldom left to their business. If they found any help there at all, it would be a miracle.
And help for what? He didn’t even know what kind of help they would look for. Surely they would attempt to find out why Takers were in Meadow and why they would seek out their mother. But the odds of someone being able to tell them, were almost non-existent at best. And someone who did know the answer to that, might be a person they would rather not be asking in the first place.
Tane began to eat a few of the tart berries from the bushes next to him, watching his brother roll onto his side. Are they tracking us? Why would they? What if there’s no help in Skadar Port? Where would they go then? He couldn’t continue the thought. He knew already that he did not have the answers.
As he swallowed hard, regretting his decision to eat the sour berries, feeling his stomach churn in unpleasantness, he decided he had better come up with a plan. Soon.
But before he could do anything more, dizziness flooded over him, far too quick for any reaction other than crumbling to his stomach. As his vision spun violently, darkness washed over him.
Qenn was in darkness as well, his dreams growing more unpleasant by the second. He was running through Meadow, lost, trying to find his mother and Tane. All around him he could hear them screaming to him for help, but they were nowhere to be found. And the feel of something evil was reaching out for him at every turn.
He bolted from behind the water mill, running alongside of the adjacent building, staying in the deep shadows. Nightfall enclosed him with an empty sky overhead. Breathing hard, he stopped as he ne
ared the corner, entering the main town street. Carefully, he eased his sweaty face around the wall to see. There she was, in the middle of the street, hands tied, mouth gagged, sitting on her knees. Her head was lowering slowly, as if her strength had expired.
Mother!
As he left his place of concealment, shadows collapsed all around her. A sea of red eyes burned fire and he was forced to slow, the heat and the brightness were too much for him to bear. All the while his mother screamed for him to save her.
No!
Qenn awoke with a jolt. His body was covered in sweat. The sun had gone down and the woods were dark. The air about them was cool and filled with the sounds of insects and night birds. As his dream faded, and his senses came back, Qenn noticed Tane’s body stretched out a few feet away.
“Tane,” Qenn yawned, “how long have I been out?”
Qenn stretched, rose, then stretched again feeling hungry. He looked down to his brother again, whose body he noticed was jerking. “Tane?”
Qenn quickly bent down, looking around the trees for anything out of the ordinary, uncertain what had happened while he slept. As he placed his hands on his brother, he felt his body trembling. He rolled Tane onto his side, gasping at the other’s pale face. Something was terribly wrong.
“Tane!”
Qenn produced the water pouch and tried to make his brother drink, but Tane wouldn’t. His eyes were lazily flashing open, allowing Qenn time enough to notice that his pupils looked glazed. His pulse was thready, and beads of sweat lined his forehead.
“Tane, what happened?”
Tane opened his eyes with faint recognition. His lips parted as though he was going to speak, but he got sick instead.
Qenn sat his brother up in the grass, crouching behind him. He noticed the small berries squeezed in Tane’s hand. It had been the only thing he had eaten in almost a day. Gently, he eased Tane down on his side into the grass, reaching into the pouch at his belt. He produced a dark yellow liquid and began to dip traces of it along Tane’s lips, softly placing some on his tongue. Instantly Tane’s body began to heave and convulse. Qenn struggled to keep him down, his own body strength far lesser than his brother’s, but managed until Tane relaxed. After a few moments, the color reappeared in his face and hands, and his eyes opened.
Qenn smiled. “Thanks for not sharing.”
Tane sat upright with a deep frown. He quickly wiped his mouth and drank water to refresh his taste buds, spitting in disgust. “What happened? I feel awful.”
“I would say that your harvesting skills are dwindling,” Qenn laughed. He showed a handful of berries to Tane. “This was your choice of poison.”
“I guess my mind was preoccupied.” Tane shook his head at his own actions. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what’s going to happen in the next few days. To tell you the truth, I have no idea.”
Qenn said nothing. He didn’t want to put their whole situation on Tane’s shoulders, and he knew that’s how his brother felt. He was always leading, being the oldest, he probably saw it as his job. But Qenn didn’t need someone to take care of him. Whatever they were going to do, they would act together.
“We need to keep moving.” Qenn wanted to show his brother that he too could take charge, share the burden. He rose to his feet, helping Tane to do the same. “We’ll walk the night and rest at day break. We’ll find some food on the way.”
Tane smiled. With a pat to Qenn’s shoulder, he replied, “Sounds good. I’ll leave the foraging to you though.”
Midnight found Tane and Qenn navigating by the stars, stumbling over fallen logs that were too dark or too small to see in the sparse light. They came across a carriage trail, an old one, seldom used, covered in grass with the wheel paths appearing to be bare, save for a few animal tracks, and graciously began to follow. With a trail set before them, they began to make ground quicker.
It had been a few hours and neither had said much. Their thoughts were drifting in and out of Meadow and Skadar Port, of the life they had been used to, and the one they were going to have now. Questions lingered without conclusion, running their minds until they were simply too tired to think any longer. Their bodies were beginning to sag, their steps slower and shorter. Food was part of their problem, or the lack thereof rather. Sleep was the other. It seemed to their bodies that a fight was taking place to see which they could put off the longest.
After several hours of no food or rest, Qenn came to an abrupt halt, staring into the woods off to his side. Tane stopped next to him, his right hand coming to rest on the pommel of his sword, his eyes squinting in the darkness for anything moving.
Qenn smiled. “It’s okay. I’ve found something.”
Qenn moved off the trail and into the woods. Tane heard a rustling of branches, then a sharp snap. Seconds later Qenn was returning to his side, holding a long, odd looking leaf. He broke the stem in half and gave it to Tane, then began to chew on his piece. Tane stared quizzically for a moment, and then did the same.
“It’s a Lilk leaf.” Qenn watched Tane smile. “It’ll give us energy.”
Tane found the leaf to be refreshing. “How did you know of this?”
“I’m an elf. We know things.”
Tane smirked. “My Elven senses are not as sharp as yours, Qenn. If I were you…”
He stopped abruptly. His body stiffened, his right hand grasped the pommel of his sword. He motioned past Qenn, far down the trail they were following. Taking his brother’s arm, Tane quickly backed away from the trail, hiding in some thick brush.
“Something’s coming up the trail.” Tane said quietly.
Qenn saw it. Something huge was coming, emerging from the dark, rumbling towards them. He began to tremble. Takers, he knew. They found them at last. He crouched down even lower, too scared to even breathe.
Tane placed a hand upon his brother’s arm. “Don’t be scared. Wait for my lead.”
They sat watching the object approach. They could hear each others breathing; they could almost feel the other’s anticipation. The woods went silent. The night seemed to hide within its own shadow.
Within a few seconds, the object took shape. It was a wagon-carriage with one horse and two riders. Angry voices barked, but the conversation was unclear. Qenn felt his nerves settle. For the time being, they were safe.
The creaking of the wooden wheels closed in on them and then the wagon was right in front passing along without hesitation. They could see sleek puffs of steam shoot out of the black horse’s nostrils, could make out the rugged clothing that the two men wore, and hear the chains in the carriage shift and slide with each bump. Seconds later, it was gone, swallowed by the night.
Tane watched it until he could no longer see it, then looked back down the trail to see if anything followed. Once he was satisfied that they were alone, he stood to his feet and sheathed his sword. Qenn followed, feeling his heart return to normal rhythm.
“We could’ve hitched a ride,” Qenn sighed. “Maybe a bite to eat as well.”
Tane shook his head. “Too dangerous. This isn’t Meadow, Qenn. We have to watch our backs and trust our instincts. And mine was telling me that those two were bad news.”
Qenn slipped his dagger back beneath his traveling cloak. “Tane, I didn’t mean anything by it. I mean your Elven senses. I consider you a part of Elven heritage as well as anyone.”
“I didn’t take offense. I love you, even if you are a full blooded elf.” Tane pushed his brother playfully. “Sometimes I wish I was either one or the other.”
“You don’t mean that. You’re unique. The best of two races.”
Tane was quiet or a moment. He thought of his mother. When he spoke, his voice was distant. “I wish for answers that I’ll never have.”
Qenn patted Tane’s broad shoulder. “The answers are within you, brother.”
“You’re a good brother. And a strong elf.”
Qenn smiled in spite of himself. “I am terrified in ways that I don’t think you ever
will be.”
“We’re in this together. Remember that. I won’t leave you.”
Tane patted Qenn gently on the back before leading the way. Qenn stayed like a shadow at his side.
They walked for the remainder of the night without a word. They were tired and in dire need for real food. Qenn had stopped several times to pick roots for them to devour, but they were not the solution. The trees had thinned out and the air became cooler still, while the sky overhead was cloudless. As the brothers tied their cloaks snug around their waists, the scent of burning wood caught their attention.
Qenn stopped them. “Fire.”
“Camp fire,” Tane corrected. “Food. It’s not far, either.”
Even though neither said it, they were both hoping to run across someone who would eagerly serve them a hot plate. They proceeded forward once again, keeping an eye out for a yellow glow.
They spotted it only minutes later, rounding a small rise, staring down to a clearing at the bottom of the hill. Not far off the trail was the fire, bits of yellow and orange flickering into the sky as two forms moved around it. Behind them rested a horse and a wagon-carriage.
“Well,” Qenn began eagerly, “do we take a look?”
Tane had a hard time denying his stomach too. “Be careful. Don’t give out any information about ourselves. We would just like to share the fire.”
Qenn nodded. And share some ale and a hot meal.
They started down the hill slowly, not wanting to catch the two men off guard, making enough noise to alert them of their approach. Before they reached the valley, they could hear the mumbled voices grunt anew, whispering an alert, as they watched the two men rise and await them. The brothers slowed even more once it was known that they were being watched.
They were greeted by a ruff voice well before they reached the fire, before they could make out who was speaking. “Hold on right there.”
Tane and Qenn stopped as they were told, feeling an uneasiness settle between them. “We mean you no harm.” Tane shot back. “We’re hoping to share your fire.”
“Who are you?” The other angry voice fired, even less friendly than the first.
“We are making our way to Skadar Port. We carry nothing of value, nor do we have anything to trade.”
The two angry voices collaborated for a moment before the first man spoke again. “Just the two of you, eh?”
“Come over, if you want,” the other man added, chuckling something under his breath, spitting something into the grass. “Share what we have.”
Tane whispered to Qenn, “Watch them closely. Trust your instincts.”
He led Qenn over to the fire where two dingy men held drinking bottles. They were hard looking men, who either paid no attention to their appearance or simply gave up trying to maintain it. Each held a gruff beard and wild hair, with faces that were tan and dirty and casting unfriendly glares. Tane and Qenn exchanged brief greetings with them and were offered a place to sit next to the flames. One of the men handed Qenn a bottle. When he thought no one would notice, he wiped it off on his cloak and gingerly tipped the bottle up to his lips. He spit almost instantly. The taste was far too strong for what he desired. He passed the bottle to Tane. The men then took their seats across from their guests.
“We thank you.” Tane forced a smile, not caring for how they were looking at him. “Where are you two heading?”
“Stew?” The shorter man asked, disregarding Tane altogether. Before he was given an answer, he was preparing two plates and handing them over to Qenn and Tane.
Qenn took his plate immediately and began eating. “Thank you a hundred times over. I have not eaten anything since…” He thought better of finishing his sentence and went to eating.
The two men huddled close to each other, whispering beneath the crackling fire. Eye contact was made with Tane several times, followed by smiles that were not too friendly. They continued to drink from their bottles, tossing one and getting another as soon as it was empty, staring through the flames at the two brothers.
Tane was uncomfortable. “So where are you heading to?”
A gruff voice barked back instantly, “You carry a nice sword, half-breed. Was he dead when you took it, or did you kill him to get it?”
“A souvenir?” laughed the other man. The two men began laughing together, mumbling unpleasantries under their breath.
“It was given to me,” Tane explained, his posture stiffening. He stopped eating and waited for the confrontation he expected to happen.
The men laughed harder. “Yeah, we’ve been given a lot of things too!”
“People are generous in these parts, boy!” the other joined.
Tane looked at Qenn, who had also set his plate aside, and mouthed the word thieves. The brothers were now feeling even more uncomfortable. Together they rose to their feet.
“Thank you for the food, but we should be going now.” Tane said, watching the other two men’s faces turn for the worse.
“Why don’t you two stick around for the night? We’ll give you a ride to Skadar Port in the morning.”
Qenn looked at his brother, feeling a tension rise between the two groups. “Thanks, but we’re in no hurry.”
“I didn’t say it was negotiable,” the voice growled back. The two men’s faces twisted into an expression that was anything but friendly. They began forward, moving around the fire, heading for Tane and Qenn.
Suddenly from inside the wagon, chains began thrashing against wood, diverting the thieves’ attention. Grunting between them, the taller man slipped around to the back of the carriage out of sight. Heated words were exchanged, then the chains stopped and the man reappeared.
“Did you hear that?” Qenn whispered. His face couldn’t hide his feelings. “They have someone in there!”
“Boy, why don’t you two come over here and help me with this wheel?” the short man snarled. The two men stepped back away from the fire, easing into the shadows.
“What’s in the wagon?” Qenn asked quickly.
“Come on back and find out,” the raspy voice teased.
Tane had his sword sliding free from its sheath when he noticed one of the men holding something in the dark. Before he could draw his sword the rest of the way, he heard a smack and Qenn and was dropping at his side. He felt a sharp sting in his neck then, and he too was falling, his eyes seeing nothing but darkness, his head spinning. His ears could pick up the slight traces of movement next to him, gruff voices speaking quickly, but everything was fading. He was out before the first man grabbed his feet.
CHAPTER FIVE