The next night the band stayed once more at the inn, though Brenyn did not go inside but remained near Noris in the barn. He was seated against the planks of the stall when Jed brought him a mug of beer. He nodded his thanks in silence while Jed sat down next to him.
After a few moments, Jed looked over. “What will you do now, Bren?”
Brenyn frowned at him. “What do you mean?”
“Now that you know how to slay darkings,” Jed explained. “Will you leave us now and go out into the world to seek them out?”
Brenyn shook his head in frustration. “But I don’t know how to slay them,” he replied. “I do not know what happened on that road, Jed. I only know that the sight of that darking made me angry and so I moved to confront it – but I do not know what happened then, when it assaulted me, and I survived and it did not.”
Jed stared at him. “But you slew the creature, Bren – I saw you do it. We all saw it. It spewed… something at you from that… thing in its hands, and then you pushed it back and it returned upon the darking and consumed it. We all saw it,” he repeated.
Brenyn turned his head and looked at his shield, leaning against the stall. “My mother made that shield, Jed. She was, I don’t know… a sorceress, I suppose, and I think she placed power in it.”
Jed stared. “Your mother was a sorceress?”
Brenyn shrugged. “Or a witch, maybe. My Gran told me that my mother had strange powers.”
Jed leaned around him and studied the shield. “So that is a magic shield? Will it work for me – or anyone else?”
Again, Brenyn shrugged. “Who knows? All I know is that it was nothing I did that slew the darking – at least, nothing that I did consciously.”
Jed furrowed his brow. “But you are her son, Bren. Maybe your mother’s powers are in you, too.”
Brenyn breathed out a harsh sigh of exasperation. “Then why wouldn’t I know it?” And he cast a hard look in Jed’s direction. “Because I don’t – I simply don’t know,” he said.
Jed continued to watch him. “Well, you are yet a young man, Bren. Maybe, over time, you will sort it out.”
Brenyn nodded grudgingly. “Unless it is just in the shield,” he answered.
Jed smiled. “Either way – I’d take it.”
Brenyn tipped up his mug of beer, sipped at it, and looked over. “Where are Evonne and her father?”
Jed raised his mug, indicating the far wall of the barn. “They are staying in the inn,” he said. He went silent, sipping at his drink.
When, after a few moments, he did not speak again, Brenyn looked at him. “You like her, don’t you?”
Jed flushed and then nodded. “Do you… do you think a girl like her would accept the life of a mercenary?”
Brenyn studied him through narrowed eyes. “Her life didn’t seem to be much as it was, Jed. She was dwelling in fear, hiding in a hole in the ground.”
“Yes, I know,” Jed agreed. “But before the marauders came, before that, she…”
“She was the daughter of a poor farmer – or miner, maybe – in a tiny town on the backside of nowhere,” Brenyn reminded him.
Jed swallowed at his mug of beer. “But she is so very pretty. Would she accept a poor, simple mercenary?”
Brenyn tendered a sad smile. “I am the son of a mercenary, and the love of my life – who loved me – was a princess.” He waved his mug toward the inn, unseen beyond the walls of the barn. “You are a man and she is a woman. If you want her, then win her.”
“Should I?”
“Do you want her?”
Jed nodded emphatically. “I do.”
“Then waste not a moment,” Brenyn told him. “Do not let another woo her before you do.”
Jed looked over, startled. “Do you suppose one of the other men –?”
“Many of them have no wife,” Brenyn answered, pointedly. “And Evonne is very pretty.”
Jed stood. “I need to go, Bren.”
Brenyn drained his mug and handed it up. “Yes,” he agreed, “you do.”
The mercenary band reached the town at the base of the hills that they called home just after sunset the next day. Captain Murlet dismissed them all, reminding them to, “Gather in the pub tomorrow for the dispensation of the gold.”
Brenyn put Noris away in his stall and went to his room, keeping all his weaponry with him rather than storing it in the armory. Mostly, he simply wanted to avoid the others, all of whom had carefully avoided talking to him on the journey home, but he also felt that the things that his mother had crafted for his father should not leave his presence ever again.
He was yet awake when Jed, who had gone to help Evonne and her father get settled, came into the room, but he kept his eyes closed and pretended to be asleep.
The next morning, the band gathered inside the pub for breakfast and to receive the reward for their labor. Brenyn sat off to the side in one of the booths.
After they had all eaten, Captain Murlet jumped up onto the bar. He looked around the room with an expression of solemnity upon his sharp features. “Five of our band,” he said, “Herle, Braden, Scanlen, Bodey, and Kitchum will ride with us no more. Four of them, like most of us here, were alone in the world, but Scanlen left behind a wife and a son. I propose, as is our custom, that all five shares go to Scanlen’s widow, to help her as she faces the future without a husband.”
At this, a murmur of assent made its way around the room.
“As for the rest of us,” Murlet continued, “Sergeant Kristo will hand out shares here at the front, so be sure to get yours.”
Brenyn waited until the line grew short and then he went forward. He was the last to reach the table where Kristo sat. The sergeant looked up and studied him in silence for a moment. Then he scooped up the last pile of three gold coins and handed them up.
“Here you go, Brenyn. I daresay you earned it.”
“Thanks, sergeant.”
He started to turn away, but Clef Echols called out to him. Brenyn looked over. The barman held up a mug. “Come and have a drink with me.”
Brenyn hesitated and then made his way over to the bar.
Echols grinned at him. “I’ve heard tales here this morning,” he told Brenyn, “and I’d like to hear your version of events.”
Brenyn shook his head. “I doubt I can add anything, Clef.”
Echols studied him with his dark eyes. “They say you slew a darking, lad. I wouldna’ believed it but Captain Murlet himself attested to the truth of it. Now that’s something no one’s ever done before.”
“Nor did I do it,” Brenyn insisted. “It was the shield that my mother crafted. Somehow, that shield rejected the darking’s attack and returned it upon him – though how, I do not know.”
Echols watched him, nodding slowly. “The captain stated something about that, sure enough.” He narrowed his black eyes. “Your mother – she was from another land?”
Brenyn nodded. “From somewhere in the east of the world, I think, though I don’t know it for a fact.”
Echols’ eyes narrowed further. “Mayhap she was a Sylvan?”
Brenyn frowned at him. “A what?”
“A Sylvan,” the barman repeated. “Was she a Sylvan?”
Brenyn shook his head. “I know not what that is.”
“The Sylvan folk, from what I hear,” Echols stated, “dwell in the far east of the world. They live among dark and ancient forests, away from humans, and are sorcerers, wizards, and such – magic folk, they are.” He shrugged. “I’ve never seen one, but I’ve heard the tales – how they are cleverer than regular humans, able to work magic. So – mayhap your mother was a Sylvan. Did not your father ever tell you whence she came?”
“I never knew my father,” Brenyn told him. “She died when I was born, and my father went away right afterward. I never knew him.”
“Aw, well, too bad,” the barman stated. “Sorry about that, Brenyn – I did not mean to pry.”
Brenyn shook his head. “It’s alrig
ht, Clef.” He frowned. “The Sylvan folk – they are real? – they truly exist?”
Echols shrugged. “From what I hear, yes. There’s been tales of ‘em since the world began, though not many have seen ‘em or can swear to the truth of it.” He took Brenyn’s mug and refilled it. “You have an odd look to you, Brenyn, you know, like there’s some different blood in you or something.” He hesitated, frowning. “I hope you don’t mind my saying so.”
“I don’t,” Brenyn assured him. “My Gran always told me I was a bit strange, like my mother.”
Echols watched him for a moment and then nodded. “I’ll bet she was Sylvan.”
Brenyn considered for a moment. “You say they dwell in the far east of the world?”
“So the tales say,” Echols affirmed.
“How far to the east, do you know?”
“Oh, thousands and thousands of miles from here – if the tales be true,” the barman answered.
“My father travelled far as a young man, or so my Gran said,” Brenyn stated thoughtfully. “But could he have journeyed so far as that?”
“Who knows? This world is a large and wondrous place,” Echols replied. “Or it would be,” he continued darkly, “were it not for the scourge of the darkings and the plague of war and ruin that they have brought upon it.”
“Indeed,” agreed Brenyn.
Echols nodded fiercely. “Well, I am proud that you slew one of those foul creatures, lad.” He hesitated. “And truly, Brenyn, I did not mean to pry.”
“It’s alright, Clef.”
Brenyn drained the last of his drink, nodded to Echols, and turned away to find Murlet waiting for him.
“Can we talk?” The captain asked.
Brenyn nodded.
Murlet turned toward the door that led out onto the street. He looked over. “Your shield is not in the armory,” he said.
“No,” Brenyn admitted, “it’s in my room. I thought –”
Murlet held up his hand. “That’s probably best,” he agreed. “And you should keep it separate from now on, but I would like to examine it, if that’s alright with you.”
“Certainly,” Brenyn answered.
When they reached Brenyn’s quarters, Jed was absent, no doubt spending the time with Evonne. Brenyn retrieved the shield from beneath his bed and handed it to Murlet. The captain placed it on the bed and ran his hand over its surface, especially along the edges where the runes had been engraved. After a few minutes of fingering the metal, he looked over at Brenyn, frowning.
“I don’t feel anything,” he said. “I thought that I might feel something.”
Brenyn frowned back at him. “What did you expect to feel?”
Murlet shrugged. “I don’t know, but if there is indeed magic in this shield – ought not I be able to feel it?” He studied Brenyn. “What did you feel that day upon the road?”
“The metal became very cold – like ice – from the darking’s assault,” Brenyn replied, “and then suddenly it grew very hot.”
“And at other times?” Murlet asked.
“Other times?”
“When you are bearing it – but are not under attack,” Murlet explained.
Brenyn shrugged. “I feel nothing. It is simply a shield.”
Murlet studied the shield. Then he nodded. “If it truly be a thing of magic,” he said, “mayhap it responds to the magic of others. That would perhaps explain why the darking’s vapor washed over it and then redounded back upon the creature.”
Brenyn looked at the shield while he considered this. Then, he nodded. “An attack that is born of magic, then, in turn awakens the magic that my mother put into it.”
“That’s how I see it,” Murlet agreed and he turned his clever gaze upon Brenyn once more. “Clef thinks that your mother was Sylvan? I overheard a bit of your conversation,” he confessed.
“He suggested it,” Brenyn replied and he frowned at Murlet. “What do you know of that folk?”
“The Sylvan folk? – no more than Clef, I’m afraid. Only such tales as have been around forever – and they don’t tell us much, except that the Sylvan folk are reputed to be a magical folk – like Clef told you, wizards and sorcerers and such. Sorry, Brenyn.”
Brenyn frowned. “Was the sorcerer that I slew a Sylvan, you think?”
Murlet considered and then he shook his head. “He looked human to me – though I know not whether the Sylvan folk look any different.”
“How are sorcerers made?” Brenyn wondered.
Murlet shrugged. “I know not. In truth, I had never seen one before four days ago.” He narrowed his gaze at Brenyn. “And I admit that I expected more trouble from him – but you slew him easily enough.”
Brenyn shook his head. “T’was my mother’s bow.”
Murlet nodded slowly. “If you say so.” He watched Brenyn for a moment. “What will you do now?”
Brenyn frowned. “Do?”
“Now that you know this shield will slay darkings – and that your bow will destroy sorcerers. Will you leave us now and go to seek your vengeance?”
Brenyn sighed and shook his head. “I’m not certain of what happened upon the road – and I need to understand it, if I can, ere I go forth to rid the world of darkings.” He looked out the window and stared at the valley to the west, filled with the brightness of the morning sun. “If I knew where they had taken Emi,” he said, “I would go this moment and rescue her, but where she is – or if she even yet lives – I do not know.”
He went quiet for a moment then, gazing out over the green and peaceful valley. Murlet went silent as well, waiting, in respect of Brenyn’s private thoughts.
Then Brenyn drew in a deep breath. “But that is unknown – and unknowable.” He looked over at Murlet. “I have nowhere else to go. Unless you think it best that I go away, I would remain here.”
“Why would I think it best that you leave? It is rather handy to have a man about that can slay darkings,” Murlet answered with a smile. “You will ever have a home here, Brenyn – always.”
“Thank you, captain.”
Murlet went to the door where he stopped and looked back. “And keep those things of your mother’s close – eh?”
Brenyn nodded. “I will.”
25.
After the incident upon the road west of Inverlin, the men of Murlet’s band looked upon Brenyn with respect and also with something akin to awe. Secretly, several of them thought him a wizard, though none ever gave voice to such sentiments, at least in Brenyn’s hearing.
The band made one more journey forth from the valley that summer, riding to the aid of Prince Serge of Katalon, a principality that lay off to the south, beyond the Argonite Hills, escorting badly needed supplies to the prince’s army defending his borders against an invasion from the forces of “King” Oba of Forinia, a nation to the east of Katalon, that lies upon the shores of the great inland sea named Lake Migan.
On that particular foray, there was no fighting; the mission was accomplished without undue trouble or any engagement with enemy troops. And Prince Serge paid out the gold as was promised, something that Captain Murlet always worried over whenever the band was acting on behalf of any prince for the first time.
There was no more work for the band that summer, though the band’s legate, Beran Hile, travelled far and wide across the face of the war-ravaged earth, in search of an assignment.
Autumn came, frost turned green things to gold and then to tan. Winter appeared upon the northern horizons and frosted the gray peaks that reared up there.
Jed announced one day that he would soon leave the room he and Brenyn had shared.
“Evonne has agreed to let me become her husband,” he told Brenyn, “and Captain Murlet has agreed to marry us in five days. I will be moving in with her and her father next week.”
Brenyn smiled. “Well done, my friend – I am happy for you.”
Jed’s eyes misted over. “You’ve been like a brother to me, Bren, and I will miss you – you know,
bunking here with you. If not for you, I might have never found the courage to seek her hand.”
Brenyn nodded. “I will miss you as well, but life moves on, my friend, as it ever should. I am happy for you, as I said.”
Jed frowned. “But what about you, Bren?” He hesitated and stared down at the floor for a moment before looking up again. “I shouldn’t say anything, I suppose, but there are those that say the captain’s sister, Glora, has taken a fancy to you. Did you know?”
“I did not know,” Brenyn answered. “But it matters not. My heart was given long ago and cannot now be retrieved. Wherever Emi has gone, whether she yet lives or has perished, my heart is with her. I do not want it back. Glora will have to ‘take a fancy’, as you put it, to another.”’
Jed’s frown deepened. “Truly, Bren? You will remain alone for the rest of your life? Truly?”
Brenyn nodded solemnly, his face set. “It is good that you found Evonne, Jed, for I will not be around forever. Someday, when I am ready, I will leave here and go to seek my vengeance upon the darkings. Not now, but someday.”
Jed studied him in silence for a moment. “Such is still your intention?”
Brenyn nodded. “When I am ready, I will go forth upon the earth and slay every one that I find – darkings and their lords.” He went quiet for a moment and his eyes hardened. “Indeed; I mean to slay every darking that befouls the earth.”
“Every darking?” Jed shook his head. “The world is large, Bren, and there are darkings everywhere upon the face of it. It is a task no man can set for himself and hope to accomplish in one life, surely.”
Brenyn smiled grimly. “Then I must quicken my step and lengthen my stride if I hope to see it done ere I die – eh?”
Then his smile softened. “Anyway, today is not the day for such dark musings. I am happy for you, my friend – and for Evonne. She is getting a fine husband.”
Jed considered him for another moment and then he smiled too. “Will you stand with me when I marry, Bren?”
“I will be honored.”
Jed put out his hand, wincing as Brenyn shook it.
A Plague of Ruin: Book One: Son of Two Bloods Page 23