An Elegy of Heroes

by K. S. Villoso

  Ailat. Kefier. Burg. Yn Garr and Jarche. And now, to his chagrin, Sume. Was everyone he cared for doomed to betray him?

  They were walking towards him, now, and he struggled to maintain his composure. The last thing he needed was to show them how much this affected him. “A fine night for a stroll,” Enosh said with a grin.

  Kefier’s face showed no emotion. “She was telling me that Sapphire thought Yn Garr would likely be found in the northern tower. At the rate all of this is going, Rosha will be closer to him than the creature—we think he won’t risk her, not if he has a chance to escape.”

  “He’s mad,” Enosh breathed. “Who knows how the man will react? He’s hell-bent on destruction.”

  “That’s what I disagree with,” Kefier replied. “I thought…”

  “What you think hardly matters when we’re dealing with facts.”

  Kefier’s face darkened. “The old man cares for Rosha. He won’t hurt her.”

  “You told me as much yourself, back when the Boarshind took her from us in Orasmus,” Sume pointed out.

  Enosh sighed. “That was before I knew he would set a horde of mercenaries on Drusgaya’s residential district. Now, facts indicate that he’s gone out of his mind, and we need to be as careful as possible when trying to predict what he will or won’t do.”

  “You just want to turn down everything I say,” Kefier said.

  Enosh stared at him. “So what if I do?”

  “It’s going to be difficult working together if we’re like this.”

  “Who said I wanted to work with you?” Enosh asked. “For that matter—”

  “Enosh,” Sume murmured. “Enough.”

  He started to laugh before thinking the better of it. How easy would it be to send her running back into his brother’s arms? He didn’t want to find out. He heard a movement coming up from the captain’s cabin and was almost relieved—in spite of himself—to see Bannal walking up to him. “I need to speak with the both of you,” he said, glancing towards Kefier. “Up by the wheel.”

  Enosh gave a mock bow and allowed Bannal to climb up the ladder first. He followed.

  “With any luck, the other boats will reach the northern shore the same time as us,” Bannal said, positioning himself near the rail. Kefier clambered in behind Enosh. “We need to act, and act fast.”

  “I was going to ask you,” Enosh said. “Why did you ride with us if you’re supposed to be with Sapphire’s group?”

  “Someone needs to keep an eye on you,” Bannal replied.

  Enosh chuckled. “You still don’t trust us, do you?”

  “You haven’t given me a good reason to.”

  Enosh found himself exchanging a look with Kefier. “You bastard.”

  “No, I think you meant yourselves,” Bannal said. He glanced at the ship captain, who walked towards the ladder while brandishing a blade. “I’m giving both of you one last chance to come clean.”

  “What is the fool talking about?” Enosh asked.

  “I don’t know,” Kefier said. “He’s been fucking obsessed with us from the beginning.”

  “Time’s up,” Bannal said. “I’ll give you a hint. You are not pure Gorenten, are you?”

  “Our mother had a drop of Baidhan blood,” Enosh replied. “That’s why he always looked like he was made by somebody who changed his mind halfway through.” He jerked his head towards Kefier.

  “I don’t think he likes your jokes,” Kefier murmured.

  Bannal shook his head. “Not a drop. More than that. A bucket. None of you knew she was Lahrin’s bastard?”

  “Duke Essonias Lahrin?” Enosh felt himself grow numb.

  “Lahrin’s grandsons,” Bannal said, walking towards them with his sword drawn. “Straight from his daughter, whom he sired through his Gorenten maid. I’m surprised you didn’t know. Your father did. He talked quite a lot about it in his journal.”

  “What journal?” Enosh asked.

  “I found them in Lahrin’s house,” Kefier replied. “Yn Garr had sent me for other things, and I found them in the basement. I gave one to Bannal to throw him off the scent.”

  “Unwittingly giving me way more valuable information than you thought,” Bannal said.

  “You idiot,” Enosh hissed.

  “I didn’t know,” Kefier snarled. “What difference does it make? So our mother was Lahrin’s bastard. Why the fuck is it so important? Who the fuck is Lahrin, anyway?”

  “Yn Garr,” Enosh breathed.

  “What?”

  “Gorrhen yn Garr, otherwise known as Agartes Allaicras. The same madman we’re about to face, and hopefully kill, before he kills us all.” Enosh’s senses were swirling.

  “But…” Kefier began. “He’s our grandfather?”

  “Yes, Kefier. We all came to that conclusion five seconds ago.”

  “You really didn’t know,” Bannal snorted. “But you can see why I can’t jeopardize such an important mission with you two on board. You cannot possibly kill a man who raised you.”

  “He didn’t raise me,” Kefier said.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Bannal replied. He lifted his hands, which began to glow with a thin, red light. He went for Enosh first. The blow sent him flying against the edge of the railing. Kefier rushed forward, but the ship captain was on him before he could reach Bannal.

  “You’re making a mistake, Bannal,” Enosh hissed.

  Bannal’s face tightened. “Goodbye, Agartes’ grandson,” he said. Before Enosh could strike against him, he threw a flame-spell strong enough to propel him overboard.

  Enosh plunged deep into the blackness of the water for several moments before he remembered that he could swim. He struggled to the surface and caught sight of the ship making a wide turn in the distance. It was too far away for him to reach. He drew a deep breath, rolling back downwards to kick off his boots before he crawled towards the faint strip of shoreline on the horizon.

  He found himself on a piece of rock jutting out into the water. There, he paused to catch his breath before heading straight for the shore. He reached land and stumbled forward as a strong wave collapsed over him. He spat out water and curled up against the soft sand.

  Goodbye, Agartes’ grandson.

  The words clung to him like filth that the sea could not wash away. Despite Bannal’s accusations, he had never known. He had never had cause to suspect. He knew that Yn Garr posed as Duke Lahrin over the years, and that he had been acquainted with both of Enosh’s parents, but that was the extent of his knowledge. Their father had certainly never told him.

  They hid it all from him. And why shouldn’t they have? It was, as he was rapidly coming to understand, a family of lies. Did it come, then, as a wonder, that he grew up to be the sort of man he became?

  Agartes’ grandson.

  No, what little signs he had seen over the years could’ve been chalked up to Yn Garr’s eccentricities. The room. The house in Cael. The way he seemed to show up in Gorent out of nowhere to take Enosh under his wing, teaching him with more care and attentiveness than his own father had done. Didn’t he set Enosh aside as easily as yesterday’s news? Bannal was probably mistaken. There was no way that sort of man could be related to him. Only…

  He loved you. Jarche’s words, the last time they had spoken, came to him. He had asked her if she was hiding anything else, and now it was plain she had lied about her answer, too.

  Enosh felt another wave collapse over his legs. He crawled higher up the sand and wiped his face. He heard a sound behind him and turned to see Kefier’s figure emerge from the water.

  “Those journals—” Enosh started.

  “What about them?”

  “If we had known about this sooner, we could’ve used it to our advantage. Imagine what we could’ve done if we had more knowledge about where the old man was coming from. If you had only stopped to think—”

  “Shut the fuck up, Enosh,” Kefier said. “We just had a fucking anvil dropped over our heads. Can’t you stop pretendin
g like nothing else matters but your pride, for once?”

  Kefier’s words snapped something inside of him. He found himself reaching forward, his fist landing on Kefier’s jaw. Kefier fell back. Enosh struck him again and again, with an anger he didn’t know he had. “What else do I have but my pride?” he cried, between every blow. “It’s always been so much easier for you. You got to cherry pick your responsibilities and everyone loved you for it. Do you know why you come out looking so good? It’s because nobody expects anything from you! When you actually do something, people can’t help but notice!”

  He stopped, panting. Kefier was gazing back at him, his blue-grey eyes hardened to a fine point.

  “Are you done?” Kefier asked. Enosh realized he hadn’t even lifted his hands.

  Enosh pushed him away. “Forget it.”

  Kefier wiped a red streak from his lip. “Fuck, you actually drew blood.”

  Enosh took a deep breath. “What the hell do we do now?”

  “You’re stumped?”

  “We’re his grandsons. How are we supposed to live with that?”

  Kefier was surveying the surrounding cliffs, a firm expression on his face. It was difficult to remember the man as the same boy that Enosh had called brother. “It doesn’t change anything. He’s still trying to tear things apart and we’re still trying to stop him.” He paused. “Do you think…is this why we’ve gotten away with so much, over the years?”

  “He certainly didn’t spare expenses when it came to me. Doesn’t mean my life was any easier for it.”

  “I’m wondering if he had anything to do with why Baeddan let me stay with the Boarshind. There was a lot of money involved when Oji freed me in Dageis, money that Oji stole. It was never mentioned again.”

  “I wouldn’t be surprised,” Enosh murmured. He turned his head. “In any case, Bannal’s going to let everyone know, which is going to make the Eheldeth council and the military a lot less sympathetic to us.”

  “Then we get out of there before they arrive. We’ve got time. The Boarshind won’t care.” He pointed at the cliffs. “I think maybe if we started climbing those, we can still make it in time.”

  Enosh snorted, shaking his head. “You…”

  “What?”

  “Maybe I rattled your head loose there.”

  “With your stringy arms? Please.” Kefier started to walk up the beach. After a moment, Enosh got up to follow him.

  “Why didn’t you hit me back?” he asked.

  Kefier stopped and was silent for a moment. “I don’t want to repeat what happened in Sagun,” he said.

  Enosh swallowed. “Right.” He paused, trying to find the right words. None seemed appropriate. “I forgot who struck the first blow.”

  “We were kids,” Kefier said. “It doesn’t matter.” He shrugged. “Although for the record, it was you. And you called our mother names. You called her a whore.”

  Enosh looked away. “Gorrhen yn Garr’s words.”

  “His own daughter.”

  “Lies to cover lies,” Enosh said. “I guess that’s why I never suspected. But what would he gain from hiding it? Why would he be that ashamed of us?”

  “Well, I don’t know about me, but if I had you for a grandson, I wouldn’t exactly proclaim it from the fucking rooftops.”

  “You’re funny now. It’s nice to know you’ve picked up a sense of humour.”

  “Do you realize,” Kefier said, “that this is the most we’ve spoken in years? Even before Sagun.”

  Enosh looked at him. “You’re right.”

  “Say that again?”

  “Don’t push it.”

  They walked in silence for several moments, moving towards the cliff. Enosh could feel the wet sand seeping around his toes. “I still don’t know how you’re planning to climb when we’ve got no shoes on,” he said.

  “I’ve built up some impressive calluses over the years, Enosh. You should’ve done the same.”

  “I’ve forgotten how disgusting you were.”

  Kefier chuckled. Enosh watched him stride forward, taller and broader than him, and wondered if perhaps he was the one had erred in letting them—all of them—fall too far away from his life. No matter what he did, he could never bring his little brother back. They were too old, and had gone far beyond such a relationship now.

  “Are we all right, Enosh?” Kefier asked, noticing his silence.

  “You still slept with my woman,” Enosh snorted.

  “You think she’ll let you get away with calling her that?”

  The smile fell from Enosh’s face. “No.”

  “Look,” Kefier said. “I’m not sorry for picking up where you’ve failed. No—you wait and listen before you get angry. The world doesn’t revolve around you. But if you’re going to play this game, I need you to do a lot better for them. For her. Then maybe I won’t feel like I have to stand in for you.”

  “I intend to.”

  “Intention’s not fucking good enough.” Kefier turned to face him. “I love that girl, and that woman, more than I care to explain to you, and if you don’t fix your shit, you’re going to understand exactly why I didn’t fight back.”

  Enosh sighed, before nodding. “I take it this means you intend to stick around.”

  “We’ll see.” They reached the base of the cliff and looked up.

  “Or we could just break our necks now, save us the trouble,” Enosh said.

  “Come on,” Kefier replied. “We used to do this as boys. Remember the powder cliffs east of the village?”

  “I do, and I vaguely recall them being about a quarter of the size of this.”

  “Yeah, but we were a lot shorter, so it evens out.”

  “So it evens out…gods, what did Sume see in you?”

  “You don’t want to know.”

  “I’d hit you again, but I’m too tired.” Enosh sat down. The moon was shining over them. It was the brightest moon he had ever seen. He watched his brother inspect the rocks. After what felt like forever, he said, “Tell me when you find that magical ladder in the dark.”

  “You could stop yapping and start helping,” Kefier replied.

  He shuffled to his feet and walked to where the moonlight was directly hitting the rock. A dark line caught his eye, something that was too narrow and rigid to be part of the cliff.

  “Looks like I found a rope,” Enosh said. He tugged. It was a little weather-worn, but seemed secure, set up by someone who must’ve wanted to explore those cliffs in the past.

  “Go up first,” Kefier suggested, appearing beside him.

  “To test it out in case it’s brittle? You think I’m insane?”

  “So I can catch you when your limp arms give out. Honestly, Enosh, must you distrust everyone? I’ll be right behind you.”

  “I still don’t see why I—”

  “I’ve got a sword. If you don’t hurry up, I’m going to stab you with it. Right in the ass.”

  Enosh looked around. The darkness felt like a blanket that threatened to strangle him.

  “It’s not that high,” Kefier added. “You’ve fallen off one before and you’re still alive.”

  “How comforting,” Enosh grumbled. He grabbed the rope and made his way up, his feet pressing against the rock. The cliff was not as vertical as it first appeared—whoever had used the rope in the past had dangled it over a traversable face. After he had crawled a few lengths up, he felt more weight at the end of the rope as Kefier followed him.

  It was slow going, and they weren’t even halfway up when his arms began to burn. He pushed his weight against the slippery rock, trying to shift the strain elsewhere. “Careful with that,” he heard Kefier call up.

  “Just give me a moment,” he said.

  “Deal with the pain. We can’t turn back now.”

  He bit back a retort, deciding that it was just a waste of energy, and forced himself up.

  Bit by bit, they climbed. Enosh lost sense of everything but the darkness, the biting rope around
his palms, the cold rock under his heels, and his brother’s voice—two parts encouraging, one part scorn.

  A little over halfway, the rope began to break.

  He didn’t realize it at first. But the sensation of the rope in his hands changed. “I think we’re in trouble,” he said in a low voice. “I think the rope is fraying somewhere.”

  “Talking isn’t going to make it go away. Move!”

  He moved, but not as fast as he’d like. The moonlight was in his eye. A few heartbeats in, the panic left him, replaced by an impending sense of acceptance that if he fell this time, there was no sea to rescue him. He would not have to face months of recovery from a broken body. He would just die. One could find a measure of relief, in such things.

  He felt something hit his cheek. It was another rope. He stared at it.

  “Grab it,” he heard a voice call up from above. It was Sume’s.

  He heaved his weight over to the new rope, testing it first. After a moment, he let go of the other one.

  “What’s happening up there?” Kefier called.

  “There’s another rope,” he replied. “Switch when you get here!” He kicked the cliff, dislodging a stone. From below, he heard Kefier curse.

  “You almost killed me, you bastard!”

  “Speak for yourself,” Enosh retorted. He looked up. Seeing Sume peer over the edge of the cliff gave him renewed energy. Before he realized it, she was helping him onto a flat surface. He dropped to the ground, his heart racing. He saw her walk back to the edge, scanning the cliff below. A few moments later, she reached down, dragging Kefier up.

  “I can do it,” Kefier grumbled.

  “You almost missed,” Sume said. “The other rope was right on your face. I don’t know how you couldn’t see it.”

  “Oh, shut up.”

  “How about a thank you? Your first line nearly broke. Good thing I found more rope nearby, or you’d be a bloody heap at the bottom of the cliff by now.”

  “You don’t have to rub it in.”

  “That I saved your life?”

  “That.”

  “Thank me first.”

  “You’re already rubbing it in. How am I supposed to trust you after this?”

  “You can’t even thank me. Say it. Thank. You. Maybe a dash of flattery, compliment my hair.”