I wanted to do this last week, but… time. And also I’m still parsing out chapter 18…
“Now Thorgrim slew Vestein Vesteinson at the harvest feast in Hawkdale; but the autumn next after, when Thorgrim was five-and- twenty years old, even as his father, Gisli his brother-in-law slew him at the harvest feast at Seastead. Some nights after Thordis his wife brought forth a son, and the lad was called Thorgrim after his father.”
(trans. Morris & Magnusson, 1892)
I like how the author of Eyrbyggja just crams Gisli’s Saga into half a paragraph of text. It reinforces my feeling that the sagas were like the comic books of the medieval Icelanders, where a small nod to a whole other story can add in a lot backstory and context in a few words. (It’s just up to us to catch up on the back issues.)
This also nods to how entangled relationships get in these stories.
So we know Thorgrim Thorsteinsson (son of Cod-Biter Thorstein, not Surt) was a powerful goði and pretty well regarded. But who is Vestein Vesteinsson? Since there is hardly enough genealogy in Eyrbyggja Saga, I’ll add in some more.
Thorgrim married Thordis Sursdottir, sister to Gisli and Thorkel Sursson, making Thorgrim Thorsteinsson Gisli’s and Thorkel’s brother-in-law.
Gisli is married to Aud Vesteinsdottir, making Vestein Vesteinsson Gisli’s and Thorkel’s brother-in-law.
So Thorgrim and Vestein have a slight, but not solid family relationship to each other.
Gisli’s Saga frames the four men as getting on rather well, and they apparently get the group nickname of the Haukdel Men at assemblies. But then a spooky wise-man, Gest the Wise, (That oddly enough isn’t made out to be Odin for once) foretells troubled times for the four men in the years to come.
The obvious solution was they would each swear blood-brother oaths to each other. Since Gisli’s Saga also gives some interesting detail to an old rite, I’ll just drop the passage here:
“We shall bind ourselves by more lasting utterances than ever. Let us four take the oath of foster-brothers.”
Well, they all thought that good counsel; and after that they went out of their booth [at the assembly] to the point of the “ere,” and there cut up a sod of turf in such wise that both its ends were still fast to the earth, and propped it up by a spear scored with runes, so tall that a man might lay his hand on the socket of the spear-head. Under this yoke they were all four to pass–Thorgrim, Gisli, Thorkel, and Vestein. Now they breathe each a vein, and let their blood fall together on the mould whence the turf had been cut up, and all touch it; and afterwards they all fall on their knees and were to take hands, and swear to avenge each the other as though he were his brother, and to call all the gods to witness.
But now, just as they were going to take hands, Thorgrim said: “I shall have quite enough on my hands if I do this towards Thorkel and Gisli, my brothers-in-law; but towards Vestein I have no tie to bind me to so great a charge.” As he said this he drew back his hand.
“Then more will do the like,” says Gisli, and drew back his hand. “I will be bound by no tie to the man who will not be bound by the same tie to my brother-in-law Vestein.”
(trans. G. W. DaSent, 1866)
So before we know it the relationship between the four is already unravelling. It eventually becomes that Gisli and Vestein form one side and Thorkel and Thorgrim another.
This gets us to “Now Thorgrim slew Vestein Vesteinson,” though in Gisli’s Saga it’s left a bit more ambiguous as to whether it was Thorgrim or Thorkel that did the murder. Either way, Vestein was a guest at Gisli’s home when he was found to have a spear run through him during his sleep. (FUN FACT: The spear used to kill Vestein was reforged from a magic sword that was in the possession of Gisli and Thorkel’s uncle but ended up getting shattered.) Gisli pulls the spear out of Vestein, which because of cultural reasons left him honor-bound to avenge Vestein’s death. He also recognizes the steel of the spear and knows Thorgrim and Thorkel are behind the murder.
Gisli won’t go against his own brother, but he does eventually repay Thorgrim in kind by sneaking into Thorgrims house in the middle of the night and affixing him to his bed (in which his own sister Thordis is also asleep) with the same spear that killed Vestein, which is a nice message to Thorkel. [A few days later, Snorri Thorgrimsson is born!]
Thordis suspects, and later tells her brand-new husband Bork the Stout, her suspicions that Gisli was behind Thorgrim’s murder. Gisli ends up being outlawed and leads a band of bounty hunters on a years long game of cat-and-mouse with the help of his wife Aud.
This band of bounty hunters is lead by Eyjolf (though Helgi the Spy is the one that holds onto the one collective brain cell of the band), who we may remember Thordis stabbing in the leg with his own sword. (Thordis is an interesting character, never quite sure where her motivations lie.)
And this isn’t the first time Eyjolf has been emasculated by the women of sagas.
Aud and Gisli are a good power-couple. They’re ride-or-die to the literal bitter end.
At a few points during the hunt for Gisli Sursson, Eyjolf stops by the farm that Aud is still running (And at most times, Gisli is still hiding out at. He’s never able to spend too much time away from her.) and offers money for her giving up Gisli. She always refuses. One last time he offers her 300 marks of silver, help in remarriage, and reintroduction into social circles. This time Aud feigns interest in Eyjolf’s offer.
Gisli and Aud’s foster-daughter sees this and panicks, runs off to Gisli to warn him, and he just responds “Aud will never betray me.” [heart emoji, crying face emoji]
Aud, on the other hand, leads Eyjolf on, questioning him that “And this silver, should I take it… I can do whatever I wish with it?” Thinking he has her, and thusly Gisli, Eyjolf assures her that is so. Aud takes the heavy pouch of silver and promptly swings it square into Eyjolf’s face, breaking his nose, and then chastising him for being a coward, a sneak, and being beaten by a woman, all in front of his men.
Eyjolf orders the men with him to cut Aud down in his rage, but one of them, Havard, stays the men saying they won’t commit to such a heinous act.
Eventually though, Gisli is tracked down and slain in one hell of a last stand. During that last stand though, Aud does manage to also break Eyjolf’s arm, so Aud 2 - Eyjolf 0.
This brings us to the scene where Eyjolf and the few survivors of Gisli’s last stand hobble into/march triumphantly into Bork and Thordis’ home, only for Eyjolf to get stabbed by Gisli’s sister.
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This week, I continued filling out the asset list. I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel of assets that we need (whoo!!), but that also means that I’m getting down to the really difficult assets that require a lot of time and don’t have much payoff. While they are important and will help the story, they’re the sort of thing that most players will skip over, because they won’t help with puzzles in any way. That said, I hope that they give a little bit more context and make the world seem more real.
We also decided to add a graphic for the intro scene. I took a page from a different noir-esque video game that I love-- A Case of Distrust.
This picture was important because I wanted to set up the tone of the story right off the bat, without giving too much away. Therefore, you don’t see Elinor or Oswald’s faces, or anything about them besides their silhouettes. The phone is also the only red thing in the scene, and it hints that you’re mainly going to be calling Elinor for the remainder of the game.
We’re really getting toward Alpha, and everyone else on the team is working really hard to make sure things are implemented on time. I’m more or less kicking back, because we were careful to prioritize.... go art!
I was going to wait for Week 3 before checking in but I got permission from one of my only readers to go ahead and do it anyway. Not that I needed it or anything since we don't stand on ceremony or anything but it helps to know someone would actually read it if I posted it. This is section is actually exactly 8000 words, which is just about 333 words under par for the day but I'm still writing at the moment.
As promised, shit goes down in this section, and an even bigger shit load of plot happens right around here which I'm kind of really excited about.
Let me know what you think, I really really want to know how this section goes over. I feel like I might be getting repetitive or something and I don't want to be boring, but now I actually know how I'm going to work the rest of this. Repeat: Let me know what you think.
So here we go, picking up right where we left off last section.
---
Before she was a sentence into the page, a noise caught both of their attention from the road. Mera was on her stomach before Racyn could make a move, pulling the human down with her by the sleeve. Her cloak fell around them, clumsily hiding them in the underbrush. The elf put a finger over her lips and motioned ahead, where through a small opening in the fabric they could make out a team of guards that had begun fanning out from the road. They had finally caught their trail and were now stomping through the underbrush, and between the brush under their feet and their heavy armor, the company was making quite the noise on their way. A mage was no more than fifty paces ahead of them and closing in, brushing past slender trees with a free hand while the other held out a flame to light his way.
Racyn looked to Mera, who wordlessly motioned down to the rapier at her belt between the two of them. The mage paused behind a mess of vines and hanging branches, now within thirty paces. He moved his flame forward and tipped the face mask of his helmet back, peering through the darkness. Racyn went to grab the rapier but Mera stopped her. The flame-wielder was still out of their range; if they made a scene here they would attract all the rest of his company. With her heart in her throat, Racyn watched as the guard stepped around the vines and continued towards their hiding place.
Twenty paces. Ten paces. She could hear the elf's heartbeat increasing, but even as the guard moved closer to them Mera's hand still remained firmly on Racyn's wrist. Her hand was just above the rapier, and within moments the guard would be on top of them. Just when Racyn was about to panic, Mera's hand had left her arm. Racyn immediately removed the sword and was on her feet, tossing the cloak away from her shoulders and knocking the guard back against a thick tree. One boot stomped his arm down, preventing him from attacking with his flame. His helmet fell off with the force of the blow that sent him against the tree, and suddenly Mera was holding her arm, keeping her from jabbing the blade into the man's throat. To her surprise, the guard didn't even call out for his comrades. Racyn thought he looked familiar the longer she looked at him, trying to place his face.
“I know him!” Mera whispered urgently.
“Mera, who-- you!” the mage turned towards Racyn, then gave a strangely devious grin. He didn't have the mustache that Racyn had found so irritating earlier, but his teeth were still yellow and his breath was still just as foul as it had been at the start of the night. Now she recognized him as the well-dressed cigarette salesman from outside the fortress, and from the look in his eyes he recognized her as well. “Quite curious to run into you again, madame.” Despite this acknowledgement she continued to keep him pinned to the tree, glancing back for Mera's instructions.
The elf stepped forward with a hiss, “Haen, where's the rest of the convoy? Why are you in guard armor?”
“Change of plans, madame,” Haen explained. “The city guard is all over the forest now, a convoy would be too noticeable. After running reconnaissance around Hardritch's fortress I doubled back to the barracks and slipped into a hunting party.”
“That's what you were doing when you were selling me overpriced cigarettes?” Racyn whispered harshly. “Running recon for your own heist? What is it with you people and robbing me while disguised?”
“If you're that upset, madame,” Haen replied, reaching into a change purse at his side to produce a single gold coin, “You can have it back.” He then glanced away, where the sound of guards calling to each other echoed through the early morning forest. “However, I would suggest we discuss your tendency for being robbed, if you wish to go into more depth, madame, when we're safely out of the woods, wouldn't you agree?” Even now the group could hear the armored men moving through the undergrowth not far from their location. Racyn finally gave a small grunt of agreement and lowered the rapier, followed by removing her boot from the mage's arm and sliding the blade back into the hilt at Mera's side. She then paused and snatched the coin from Haen, slipping it back into her change purse.
“Lead the way Haen,” Mera nodded to him. The mage hunkered down and removed a small spyglass from his belt, scanning the forest. By now the sun was on the edge of the horizon, granting just enough light for him to see through the dense trees. He explained that the guard party he had snuck into was under orders to move further east, towards the coastline. West lead deeper into the forest and would serve as their way out.
“We're going to be going through centaur territory,” Haen advised, tucking the spyglass away. “Madame, are you... necessary?” He asked, turning towards Racyn with a less-than-satisfied look. From his expression it seemed he had only planned on transporting one body through the wilds.
Mera spoke up before the human could respond. “She requires information for providing me safe passage out of the city, I am sworn to provide it.”
Their escort gave a frown. “If you slow us down--”
“I won't slow you down,” Racyn cut him off.
Haen looked as though he was going to protest, but Mera gave him a look. The mage gave a curt nod, then began silently moving through the forest, ducking and weaving through fallen trees as thick as a giant's arm. Mera and Racyn followed, the elf showing off impressive acrobatic feats as she dipped and dove through the forest with just as much grace as Racyn witnessed in the bar not even two days prior. The thought reminded the thief that she had been planning on cutting off the elf's hands at the time. Maybe later, she thought as the mage lead them through the wood, over small streams of water flowing through rock and past carved stone structures that were still standing from days gone by, now overgrown with plant life.
Suddenly, Haen came to a skidding halt in the leaves and put a hand out. The women he was leading followed suit, Mera taking a knee. Racyn could see the wound in her shoulder was bleeding through the bandage. Haen also took notice of this, but movement in the forest ahead distracted him before he could say anything.
They had wandered just outside of a small clearing, uphill from the position they had first made contact with Haen. The trees became less dense here, providing limited cover for them to slip past ground forces. They were still a ways from the centaur's territory, so that couldn't have been his reason for stopping their progression. Haen ordered them to remain still as he moved forward into the trees. There was a short wave of silence as the two women looked at each other, fearing the worst. Haen was back within moments.
“How badly did you piss them off back in port, madame?” Haen asked Mera, passing his spyglass to her. She extended it and within seconds knew what he was referring to. She swore in a language Racyn couldn't understand before getting back onto her feet.
“What is it?” the human asked as the two turned tail and began running in the opposite direction. Racyn remained for a moment, looking out into the trees. After a moment of staring into the darkness just beyond the tree line, she realized it wasn't actually darkness at all. She could make out the thick cloud of black smoke rising from the forest floor. She took a step back only to find the wall of smoke extending into the distance ahead of them. The guards were burning down the forest to the west and driving them towards the shore, where Haen had said their forces would be waiting.
She took that as her cue to follow the others, as quickly as possible. The group of them ducked through trees and vines, glancing back to the wall of flames in the distance. Racyn thought to mention the direction they were being routed, but she realized Haen was already calculating distances even as they worked their way through the forest. Fortunately the leaves were still wet from the rain the day prior, slowing the advancement of the flames, but despite this it would be catching up to them within moments.
“Can't you do something,” Racyn called to Haen. “You're a fire mage!”
“There are limits to any magic, madame,” he called back, his boots skidding in the mud. He steadied himself against a large oak, allowing the pair to catch up. “Would you go up against white rapids if all you had was a teaspoon?” As soon as his point was made, he took off once more, heading north. Smoke was thickening on the horizon in the west, and nothing but salt water and more guards would be awaiting them to the east. The further north they went, however, the close it would put them to centaur territory. Then there would truly be something to worry about, and beyond was only the darkness of Silverwood forest. Anything that ended up in there was good as dead, but Haen had to have been aware where he was directing them.
To Racyn's right she could see Mera stumble and fall. The wound in her shoulder was bleeding profusely now, the exertion making her heart pump faster. Haen took notice and hesitated, then joined Racyn at the elf's side, trying to get her back to her feet.
“With all due respect, now is hardly the time to bleed to death.”
“Then cauterize it!” Mera ordered.
“Madame, the pain may send you into shock,” Haen advised, looking nervously towards the advancing flames in the distance. A deer burst out from the brush, sending Racyn toppling backwards as it charged past the group of them. Forest-dwelling creatures were fleeing in the wake of the wall of fire, instincts driving them towards the sea to the east to avoid incineration.
“Just do it!” the elf ripped the black fabric off her shoulder, exposing the wound. The paste Racyn had made for it was still present, but blood and pus had begun bubbling up from under it. It wasn't clear if the paste had helped anything or not. Haen apologized once, then pressed two of his fingertips into the wound. They glowed orange for a moment and the elf's eyes widened, followed by a scream of pain as flesh sizzled under the touch. He did the same for the opposite end of the wound and the screaming only increased.
“That will keep the wound from bleeding out, but now you most certainly will need our medics!” Haen ripped a length of clean fabric from the tunic beneath his stolen armor, wrapping it around the injury. Racyn, who was keeping watch, could see the flames jumping from tree to tree, sending fire raining down into dry bushes not even twenty paces ahead.
“We have to move!” She shouted as the brush caught, erupting into a roaring torrent of flame. Haen was pulling Mera's arm to get her up, but the elf was still groaning on her back in the mud, the pain of cauterizing her wound keeping her from getting up. It was a wonder she was even able to remain conscious.
Then a sudden change in the winds whipped the leaves into a frenzy, sending still burning cinders and ash in a cloud around them. Racyn threw her arm in front of her face to protect her eyes, a wave of smoke entering her lungs causing her to become light-headed. She fell backwards, coughing and gasping for air. From her vantage point she could see the fire spreading through the trees above them, limbs cracking from their structures and falling to the ground on all sides. Haen was saying something, but she couldn't make it out amid the buzzing in her head. Her thoughts began to drift as smoke surrounded them, clouding her vision of the now blazing canopy.
How did this happen? Hadn't she just been in her home on the marsh, quite content listening to the soft sound of rain falling through the trees. And now she was going to die in the middle of the woods, in a forest fire of all things. Fate had a strange sense of humor, she was certain.
Her eyes, red and glassy from the smoke, closed.
In her last seconds before she lost consciousness, she felt hands grab her by the shoulders and press her cheeks, followed by a warm mouth pressing against her own. Rather than blowing inward to send air to her lungs, they inhaled. The smoke and tiny cinders that were filling and burning the inside of her chest were suddenly escaping her lips, leaving momentary emptiness and then filling her lungs with clean air. Her eyes opened with a sudden hacking cough to find the fire mage looking down at her, plumes of black smoke billowing from his nostrils. In her still semi-conscious state she recognized this as the air that had been in her lungs, being expelled just as he had done while showing off with the cigarette the evening before.
“Apologies,” Haen said quickly, then a large cracking from above caught their attention. Racyn rolled sideways as a colossal burning tree limb snapped free from the canopy, careening down to the forest floor. Haen was on his feet to meet it. Racyn watched as if in slow motion as fire drew from the burning leaves around them to the fire mage's hands as he swept them around himself, accumulating a ball of flame the size of her head. Just before the tree branch came down on them, he thrust upward. The ball struck the already burning limb and for a moment it seemed to remain suspended in the air, supported only by the mage's hand. Then the insides of the limb began to glow with orange veins and the entire branch crumbled into dust, blowing away on the winds.
“A teaspoon, my ass!” Racyn coughed sarcastically in light of his earlier metaphor, but Haen was already roaring in pain, gripping his forearm. She could tell it was badly burned as far up as his elbow, the armor on his gauntlet still glowing orange with heat and the leather completely burned away. Before anything else could be done he was charging away from the two women, towards the nearest source of water.
“Mera, get up!” Racyn ordered the elf, shaking her once. Haen's attack had cleared the area for the moment, but the flames were still spreading. They would be overtaken again, and this time the fire mage wouldn't be there to help them. Mera groaned and winced but refused to move.
“Hey, you bitch!” Racyn snapped, shaking her firmly. Had she inhaled smoke? Racyn was reminded that she wasn't a mage, she couldn't remove the smoke like Haen had done for her. “Get up! You've got a war to stop, don't you? Come on!” She ordered, and finally the elf stirred and her eyes opened. Racyn had her by the arm, pulling her back on her feet before the elf was even fully conscious, following the sound of Haen's screaming.
“For the record,” the human snapped as they charged through the forest, once again with the elf on her arm, “that's the second time I saved your life!”
And suddenly the forest began to become thinner and the trees became less dense, and then the forest was behind them. Racyn found her boots sinking into soft sands, leading her to come to a stop. The beach stretched out as far as they could see, and several leagues back the way they came they could make out the tall ships of the port city, and the pillars of smoke that could be seen still rising from the captain's complex, signaling the city-wide state of alarm. It was likely no one within the walls knew about the fire outside the city that was burning down the forest, beside those who had involvement in ordering it. Such was city life.
Mera pushed her way off Racyn's arm and stumbled forward. Her face was pale with pain and blood-loss, and her steps were shaky. She put her hand to her mouth and called up the beach for the fire mage. “Haen!”
Racyn backed up and looked into the still burning forest as Mera called for her comrade. The beach was entirely deserted and eerily quiet compared to the raging fire within the forest, but at least there weren't any guards waiting for them, as Haen had suspected there would be.
When no answer came, Mera finally sat down against a piece of driftwood. “They routed us,” she stated the obvious, looking down at the sapphire ring on her finger. The she swore again, still not making sense of what happened. “If they went to all the trouble to get us here, why aren't we being apprehended?”
“Would you prefer being apprehended?” Racyn asked without turning away from the forest. “Frankly I'd be more concerned about how we're going to get to your people.”
Mera pulled her legs in close, to her chest, earning a wince as she moved her shoulder. Racyn already knew what she was thinking; without the fire mage to guide them to where her people were, they had no idea how to get there. The longer they waited around, however, the longer it would give the guards to catch up to their position. And once that happened, they would either be jailed or killed outright. Most likely both, once they retrieved any valuable information about their respective companies. Perhaps they would even give her the honor of a beheading in the capital, as they had done with Sera. The thought brought her back to where she had left Malenn, there on the wall in Hardritch's fortress. Had he made it out alright, or where they already torturing him? Or worse. Her mind flashed to his broken body filled with arrows falling from the guard tower, and then to Haen on the forest floor, his own flame consuming him. And for what?
Her hand went down to the small pouch on her belt that had gone forgotten for most of their flight from the mansion. She removed the pouch and slid the fist-sized rock into her palm, turning it over to get a good look at it. The power she had felt when she touched it in the basement of the mansion wasn't present now, and only the slightest whisper seemed to resonate from inside it. All that for a paperweight and a stack of papers to go with it. She took a few steps towards the water and wound up, preparing to throw the rock into the ocean. Valen could shove this whole mission up his--
A hand grabbed her wrist. Mera was looking at the stone with an intensity that Racyn hadn't seen from her the entire mission, not even when she had been in danger of bleeding to death. “Where did you get that?” She demanded.
Racyn looked at the rock, confused, then back at the elf. “Why, is it valuable?”
Mera was on her feet. “That's a fragment of Miir! Why do you even have it in the first place?”
Racyn lowered the rock, now not entirely sure she wanted to chuck it in the sea. She looked back down at the symbol on the outside of it, then pulled it in close to her chest. If it was important, she didn't want the elf taking it. “This is what I was in the mansion to find.”
The elf was in her face now, not even a hand's length away. “Were there more?!”
Racyn took a step back. “They were all in boxes! I don't know!”
“Other symbols, though, like that one? Did you see other symbols?” She pointed to the rock still clutched in Racyn's fist.
“Hey, look,” Racyn raised her hands, all of a sudden feeling very accused. “I was just assigned to steal this one, I wasn't looking at any of the others! What's so important about it, it's a rock!”
“It's not just a rock!” Mera was frustrated now. She reached into her shirt with her good arm and produced the pendant she had shown Racyn earlier in the forest, when they had brought up their deities. She thrust it into her hand, turning it over the side of random lines. Now that she looked at the two stones next to each other, Racyn could see the similarities in the way they were carved, as well as with the way the lines were filled in with white paint.
Mera pointed to the pendant and reiterated what she said earlier. “Miir means chaos in the elven language! When everything works together, it's Miirjahn, harmony in chaos! That's a fragment of Miir, a piece of chaos! Where there any more?!” Her voice was cracking the more riled up she became, reaching pitches Racyn hadn't even thought possible. But now that the elf brought it up, she had seen different symbols similar to this one in the storage cellar. There was a vague picture beginning to form in Racyn's mind of what Mera was getting at, but a sudden movement behind them caused them both to turn. Racyn slipped the rock away in the momentary distraction as Mera drew her rapier and took a step forward, only to be knocked backwards as a massive shape burst from the forest. Racyn caught her before she hit the ground.
A female centaur had burst from the foliage, clad only in golden bengals around her arms. Dark brown fur covered her lower half, tapering off where her horse half met her human half and becoming skin of the same color. At the end of each leg were tufts of golden fur that shone in stark contrast with the rest of her dark fur. From her head to her lower back was hair black as coal, kept in place with golden rings. Most notably, however, was the large spear she was leveling at the pair of them, and the look of rage in her eyes.
“A human!” She reared back, stomping her hooves in the sand. “And an elf-kind! Are you responsible for this destruction?!” the centaur demanded, motioning back to the forest. The fact that it was still ablaze had momentarily slipped their mind.
Racyn was about to speak when Mera interjected. “We are not the ones who caused this fire, my lady. Our pursuers seek to destroy us and will burn your forest to the ground to do so.” She bowed low. “We were traveling with a mage of flame, he is also not the one responsible.”
The centaur snuffed loudly through her nose, in the same manner a horse might. “We found your mage. He has suffered burns, therefore it cannot be his fire. This is no natural flame, elf-kind.”
“Take us to him!” Racyn asked. “He's the only one who...” she trailed off when she found both of the other parties staring at her. Mera bit her lip, knowing what was coming next.
The centaur lowered herself down to Racyn's level to look her in the eyes. Her face was nearly twice as big as the human's, and completely exuded rage itself. “A human will never give orders to a centaur. We are not the beasts you tame and ride.”
Mera stepped between them. “I apologize on her behalf, my lady,” she said quickly. “She has not met one of your kind. However, we humbly request your aid in relocating our guide. We have information crucial to our cause and he is the only one who knows--”
The centaur huffed through her nostrils again, stamping her front legs in the sand. “Elf-kind, your cause is of no consequence to the Lithebred clan. We seek to preserve our home, and if you will aid us we will grant you your guide and allow passage through our lands. But the fires rage onward, and covers the sky in ash.”
“We vow to assist your clan,” Mera said for the both of them. Racyn raised a hand to object, but Mera lowered it immediately. “For the sake of instruction, what is the punishment for refusal?”
“We will seek to quell the threat another way. You say the fire-starters seek you, therefore we will provide you to them in quarters.” The centaur looked to Racyn. “However, if your human vows to assist in stopping the threat, our clan will show mercy.”
“Her human!” Racyn objected without thinking. Mera once again bit her lip and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.
The centaur's grip tightened on her spear, and she seemed about ready to bring it down into Racyn's chest. “You travel with elf-kind, human, one of the most respected races to the centaurs. We lived in harmony with elves of land and forest for thousands of years. Would you wish to be seen as a one of your clan, who have made cities where there were once trees and plowed through our homes to build your fields and roads?”
Racyn looked down at her feet. There was no sense in arguing, she certainly had seen the point. After another moment to let that point sink in, the centaur turned and faced the forest. “Elf-kind, you and your human are hunted not by mages, but an Infernal. Whoever wields this power seeks to hunt you to the ends of the earth, and will not stop until you are ash.”
Racyn thought to speak up, but the sequence of events thus far caused her to bite her tongue. It wasn't vital to ask another question, and if she spoke up she might receive a spear through the heart rather than an answer. She knew enough lore, however, to recognize what was being discussed, but had never put any stock into the stories of the Infernal. They were rumored to be the descendants of golems that had been left within darkness for thousands of cycles, eventually causing their simple minds to decay from pure service and protection into something warped and destructive. There was no way to control them once they were activated; they would crush anything in their path until their own destructive force turned against them. That would explain why there weren't any guards to intercept them on the beach; they had all been called back to the city for their own safety.
“Where is the monster?” Mera asked. Her face was grim; the two thieves were hardly prepared to wrangle something as powerful as this.
“Our forces were holding it back within a clearing to the west, but they will not last long. Keep up,” the centaur ordered before diving back into the trees. Mera was about to follow when she noticed Racyn lingering back.
“You're sworn to help them,” Mera reminded the human. “This is our doing.”
“We can't fight something like that! That's the kind of thing parents tell their kids as bedtime stories to scare them! How are we going to--”
To her surprise, Mera's fist collided with her cheek, sending her sprawling into the sand. Her hand flew up to her face, giving the elf an accusing look even as Mera bent down next to her. “I apologize, is that not how human's deal with others when they're getting hysterical?”
“I'm not hysterical!” Racyn called back as the elf began into the still-burning trees after the centaur. Racyn remained in the sand for a moment, touching her face tenderly. That was uncalled for, she thought. Well, it's not like they were planning on going up against a fire-spewing golem with the weapon equivalent of dull toothpicks or anything.
“Oh wait!” she yelled sarcastically, then realized nobody was around to hear her. Then Racyn felt as though she was looking at herself from above, the once-proud thief reduced to a whimpering child in the sand, clutching her face because someone was mean and punched her. What would Valen say at a time like this? Oh, screw Valen, she thought as she got back on her feet. There were so many other, better criminals that could look down on her at this moment. Anyone else, really. But not him, that son-of-a-bitch had up and left her to die as soon as the mission started. Besides, she bet he never fought an Infernal before. If anything it would be good bragging rights, if it didn't outright incinerate her. Before she charged into the foliage the other side of her brain had a few opposing thoughts to add.
No, that was a horrible idea, she thought. We don't have anything to fight something like that with. Take the file on Fairebright and get out before the whole forest goes up!
That sounded significantly more reasonable. She reached into her side bag to make sure the file was--
The file was gone.
Racyn swore to the pantheon. Mera had taken it back before she even had a chance to read it! That elven bitch had her by a string and she wasn't going to let go until they were out of the woods! Racyn exhaled, trying to calm herself down with some kind of positive thought. At least she still had that stupid rock. With that she could at least finish the job, get her pay and be done with--
“No!” Racyn swore, her hand only touching emptiness at her belt. The rock was gone too?! They were just talking about it, how did--
Her hand flew up to her face, where her cheek was beginning to swell from the hit. Everything started to make sense now. “That... bitch!”
And then Racyn was charging into the smoke and fire after the elf, who now had a considerable head start on her.
The forest was madness now that the flames had spread further, creating a complex maze that was only worsened by falling branches. The centaur, luckily, was leading the way, and her heavy footfalls were clearing a slight path through the flames, putting out a trail of fire in her wake. Mera was within spitting distance, still up ahead along the path. Racyn dodged a bush that became an inferno in her path, working her way back to the elf's side.
“Give me back the rock!” Racyn called to her over the roar of the blaze.
“You'll get it back when we're done helping!” Mera replied, ducking under a log that had yet to catch as cinders rained down on them. “We promised the centaurs!”
“For a thief you've got some strange sense of honor,” Racyn growled under her breath, slipping through trees and skidding through burning leaves, whipping the underbrush up into a frenzy. She could feel the soles of her boots warming up the longer they spent in this situation. She then added, “You promised the centaurs, I'm just your pet!”
“I could think of worse things to be!” Mera called as she advanced, covering her mouth with her arm as she burst through clouds of black smoke.
And then they both skidded to a halt, the trees giving way behind them. Now Mera couldn't help but swear, pulling the human aside before they were spotted.
Before them, a battalion of centaurs were racing around the form of a massive hulking monster. It was on all fours and had to have been at least four bodies high, composed entirely of crumbling rock and flame itself. In one motion in slammed down at the centaurs that had been gouging it with their spears, crushing two beneath a molten fist. Flames exploded outward from the beast's form as the roar of the monster filled the forest, scattering the armored vanguard of centaurs. Racyn could make out the centaur who had found them on the beach, joining her compatriots on the front line with a battle cry.
“Still think you can help with this?” Racyn demanded. Mera didn't respond, still working on sizing up her opponent.
“Infernals, what do you know about them?” the elf asked.
“Now really isn't the time to be thinking, Mera!” Racyn spat. “You brought me out here, do something!”
“No, it's important! We need a plan or it's just going to crush us! They're just golems, right? They've got all the same parts, how do you destroy a golem?”
Racyn snapped her fingers. “Wait, I do know this! We've fought golems before!” She quickly began to think back. It had been many cycles ago, in a raid on an ancient fortification in Silverwood. The golem was made to guard riches of the caves in the area, constructed by elves from the carved rock of the living cave. The monster had only stopped when one of their company fired an arrow...
“Into the forehead! There's some kind of elvish character!” She said quickly. Mera nodded once and was on her feet, charging into the fray. The beast looked over it's shoulder and noticed her approaching, immediately taking it's attention away from the centaurs that surrounded it. The centaurs continued to try gouging it with their spears, which only incinerated in the monster's fires. The beast lowered its massive head to look at Mera, but Racyn couldn't make out the symbol carved into the rock. It was covered by molten lava, exuding from cracks within the stone. To Racyn's surprise, the elf drew her rapier.
“Focus your attacks on the head!” She called to the centaurs as she backed away from the monster. “Break the stone!”
From her vantage point Racyn noticed her pouch containing the fragment of Miir at Mera's side. It was giving off a blue glow the closer she got to the monster, and the whispering Racyn remembered from the storage chamber began to fill the clearing. The centaurs didn't seem to notice this, but Mera and the Infernal seemed to recognize the noise. Mera reached down to the pouch in surprise, then quickly slashed the bag free from her belt and threw it back to Racyn. She caught it, sliding the rock out into her hand before she realized the beast had turned to face her. The massive mouth roared, flames flooding out from within the stone. Racyn ducked behind a large tree, the flames singeing her as they parted around the tree.
“It's reacting to the symbol carved in the monster!” Mera called from somewhere behind the beast.
“Why did you throw it to me?!” Racyn yelled as the flames subsided. She jumped out of her hiding spot and began to strafe around the outskirts of the clearing. The beast moved after her, swiping gigantic fists down into trees and swatting whole centaurs aside with every motion. Mera slid underneath the monster's blazing arm as it swung back, putting her hands up for Racyn to throw the rock. She lobbed it, the elf deftly catching both the fragment and the monster's attention as it followed the stone.
“Use the rock!” Racyn called, scrambling backwards as the monster's huge arms swung around to follow the elf.
“You need to know the symbol for that!” Mera called, ducking under a swipe from the beast that was quickly followed by a downward strike. She rolled backwards as the hit sent fire spewing forth in a wave, surprised when a hand grabbed hers before the flames engulfed her, leading her away from danger. She looked up to find a well-armored centaur, who gave her a wordless nod as he dropped her across the clearing, giving her some distance from the beast. The centaur turned and charged back into battle while throwing his spear at the monster's face, but it was incinerate like the rest.
“You don't know the symbol? You're an elf!” Racyn's voice could be heard calling from the battle.
“I need time to think,” Mera said to herself, tracing her finger over the icon. It looked like a wave, surrounded by a crescent. She looked up to find the monster had turned its attention back to her and was making it's way after her, but luckily the monster was slow. She traced her finger through the curve of the crescent, trying to remember a language long forgotten. Names of gods came to her, but none were familiar in relation to the stone. Faster, faster... The beast was bearing down on her now, rearing back it's head to breath it's flame over her. Before it struck she lobbed the rock away from her, where it landed in the center of the clearing. The monster's was distracted just long enough to allow her to jump away, out of flame's range.
Racyn meanwhile, was roughly fifty paces from the stone. The monster was thirty paces away. It turned to face her, slamming both fists into the earth and let out a roar, ripping up rock and dirt from beneath it and throwing cart-sized mounds of flaming stone at her. She jumped away, narrowly missing being hit by the first volley, then scrambling up to dodge the second. Flames licked her skin as the massive pieces of earth exploded as they hit the ground, and she stumbled back from the stone as it disappeared behind a torrent of flame, and she could see the monster roaring beyond the inferno, readying a second volley.
And then Racyn felt herself being lifted by her shoulders and tossed in the air, landing on something warm and covered in fur. The centaur from the beach looked back gave her a single nod. Racyn decided not to mention the fact she was being allowed on her back, instead wrapping her arms just below the centaur's breasts as they charged forward.
“Zephyr! It's Zephyr!” Mera's voice cried from somewhere in the confusion.
“That's a human word!” Racyn called back as the centaur dodged another flaming ball of mud, putting them within range of the fragment.
“Humans stole the word,” the centaur told the human gruffly. “Be ready!”
Racyn nodded, but then the centaur had grabbed her legs, and for a moment she didn't know how they were planning on doing this. Then she was flipped over onto her stomach, gripping the centaur's horse-half for dear life with her legs on either side of the centaur's human upper half. The fragment was not even ten paces ahead and gaining fast, and in one quick motion Racyn had put her hand out and felt it close around the rock. Still holding on with her free arm, she brought the stone up to get a good look at it. “Zephyr,” she whispered into the symbol.
The stone began to glow, and the power she had felt the night before in the storage returned to the rock, as if a thousand storms were packed into it's center. The Infernal felt this power and responded with a roar, slamming it's fist into the earth and ripping upward. The centaur's footing was lost, sending the pair of them flying backwards. Racyn skidded in the dirt and felt as though she was losing consciousness once again.
A single drop of rain splashed against her face. Another followed closely behind. She opened her eyes to find what had been a clear morning sky suddenly covered by black clouds. The winds rose into a howl and rain began to fall heavily into the clearing. Thunder cracked through the sky and the rain suddenly increased to a downpour. In response to the lightning that flashed above, the Infernal gave a tremendous roar. Racyn could see from her vantage point on the ground that the sudden heavy rain was quelling the inferno surrounding the beast. The flames around the area were going out as the storm began to truly rage, sending plumes of white smoke spiraling into the clouds above. Racyn braced herself by gripping handfuls of grass as the winds roared and the storm raged, and the massive beast began to thrash violently, smoke rising from the rapidly cooling rocks as rain washed over it's form. The stone golem underneath the fire was beginning to come into view, and within moments the carved rune was visible in the center of the golem's complete flat face, painted white to match the rune in the fragment of Miir.
Mera was already climbing the monster's rain-slick arm, gripping the cracks and crevices in the rock. The Infernal tried to swat her away, but she was too fast for the sluggish monster. She jumped onto the beast's shoulder and slid around to face it. Racyn watched from the mud as Mera thrust her rapier forward, striking the center of the emblem. There was a moment where the beast seemed to be still struggling, but then a crack began to extend out from the rapier, and another followed close behind. The golem gave one final groan before it's extremities began to crumble into dust. The wind picked up the particles and scattered it into the heart of the storm.
As soon as the golem disappeared into the winds, the fragment in Racyn's hand stopped glowing and the storm began to slowly subside. The rain became thinner and the winds faded, and soon the clouds had completely disappeared, leaving only the clear morning sky. It was as if nothing had happened.
Mera stepped over to Racyn and extended her hand to help the human out of the mud. “Just a rock though, right?” the elf joked. Racyn gave a single nervous laugh.
The centaurs spent the better part of the hour regrouping in the center of the clearing, while the human and the elf observed, being too small to help in this situation. The injured were hauled into the forest to be treated, but the handful of dead were left out, some no more than a pile of ash after being caught in the Infernal's fire. Mera explained that the remaining centaurs would follow their traditional customs: the bodies would be allowed to decompose on their own, and within a year they would return to plant seeds over their fallen comrades. Those who died in battle were said to be the most powerful, and so within a hundred seasons the clearing would be filled with strong, hearty trees that their kind could live among.
“That seems awfully macabre,” Racyn commented, pulling a bandage around a burn on her leg.
“To you, perhaps. Elves follow the same custom,” Mera shrugged her shoulders, sitting back against the log they were leaning on. “It's all part of the old ways. Silverwood was home to hundreds of generations of elves, each new generation building the forest thicker and stronger than the last.”
“Did you ever live there?” Racyn asked, suddenly very curious about the woman she had somehow ended up traveling with. She didn't know anything about Mera save what the elf had mentioned earlier about her deities.
It seemed Mera had just realized the same thing, and found herself more comfortable with her companion not knowing her history. “No, I didn't,” she said briefly. “The elves had left Silverwood long before I came about.”
Racyn seemed to want to press the issue further, but before she could get a word out she had noticed the centaur from the beach approaching them. The human was pleased to see she didn't have her spear with her.
“Elf-kind, human, clan Lithebred thanks you for your assistance,” The centaur bowed on her front legs slightly, putting her arm across her chest. “However, this forest is now too damaged to sustain life. Our clan will be forced to move north until the trees regrow.”
“I apologize,” Racyn said, alarmed. “The Infernal was sent after us, we didn't... know...” Once again she was being stared at. She looked from Mera to the centaur and back, but the centaur just shook her head sadly.
“The clan doesn't find you responsible, human. Where we larger in number, we would find the human truly responsible for unleashing the Infernal and make them pay in blood.” She clenched her fist, but relaxed after a moment. “But the forest has no place for a tree grown out of vengeance, that produces only poisoned fruit and pestilence for all around it. We will manage, as we always have.”
Racyn got to her feet and presented her hand to the centaur, who looked at it for a moment before giving it a single, firm shake. “I'm still sorry,” the human said quietly. The centaur nodded sadly, recognizing the human's sincerity.
Mera stood and bowed again, low enough to touch her head to the forest floor. “If I may, my lady, may we retrieve our guide, as per our agreement?”
“Yes, the mage. He will be provided to you, as will access to our lands. Not that those privileges will affect you anymore.”
Mera bit her lip, but went on. “Thank you, My lady. May we ask whose kindness is extended upon us?”
The centaur gave a small smile. “Kazmina of clan Lithebred, elf-kind.”
Racyn watched as Mera's hand flew to her mouth in surprise, followed by another deep bow. “K-Kazmina! I-I-I didn't--”
“Peace, elf-kind,” the centaur raised her hand. “We have done battle alongside each other, the time for such formalities has passed. Remain here, I will retrieve your guide.”
With that Kazmina turned away from the two of them, rejoining her clan on the opposite end of the clearing. Racyn turned to Mera, who was still bowing her head low enough to touch her toes.
“Who's Kazmina? Someone important?” The human asked indignantly.
“She's the next in line for clan Lithebred's high queen!” Mera said, now apparently in a panic. “Once the current high queen passes, she'll be the most powerful centaur this side of the northern mountains!”
Racyn stuck out her lower lip, sizing up the centaur that was walking away from them while Mera continued to chastise herself for not being formal enough. “The princess fighting alongside the vanguard? I don't think I buy it,” the human quipped. But then she noticed how the smaller centaurs backed away and seemed more nervous as Kazmina approached, and the way three fully-armored male centaurs hurried to follow her orders when she demanded the fire mage they had intercepted, the three of them hurrying into the trees to collect him without so much as a word of protest. Perhaps their was merit to a matriarchy, Racyn thought to herself.
Shortly the guards burst forth from the trees again, Haen walking out into the clearing just behind their party. His arm was wrapped in blood-stained bandages from the elbow down, and he was still wearing his stolen guards armor. The elf and the human joined him. Haen seemed to be surprised to see Racyn.
“Oh good, you didn't die,” he remarked as they approached, which earned a furrowed brow from the human.
