Mighty Hammer Down

by David J Guyton

"Mirra Odera? Mirra Odera?" Pirius kept saying. "How could you do this?"

  "Whatever do you mean brother?"

  "You know exactly what I mean Uritus. Mirra Odera is with Rommus."

  "No she isn't Pirius. You just don't understand what has been going on. She is not with Rommus anymore, no matter what he tells you."

  Pirius could not control the look of frustration and anger on his face. "He was your friend! We all played together as children. We all chased the pretty girls together when we got to be too old to run through these halls. He has helped you with your problems. He would do anything for you, and this is how you repay him?"

  Uritus sat down in a chair and threaded his fingers together. "Pirius, you just don't understand. A man cannot control who he loves. She has stolen my heart. I thought that surely you of all people could understand that."

  "I admit that I focus a little too much on women, but I would never have done this. I have enough control not to disrespect my friends."

  "Is that what you think this is? You think that it's all about respect and disrespect? You see things as narrowly as our father did."

  Pirius slumped at the mention of their father. He was clearly shaken by the assassination, but he did his best to avoid thinking about it so that he would not be seen crying in public. If Uritus knew his brother, he knew that he spent his nights wetting his pillow with tears. Uritus grinned a little as he thought about how weak his brother was.

  Pirius turned around to hide his face. He moved some things around on a nearby table in an effort to justify avoiding the conversation. Uritus knew he was probably sobbing quietly as he rearranged some vases. He finally turned around, holding one of the delicate glass vases.

  "How can you be so callous? How can you hurt me with talk like that? You know I am not coping with this very well, and yet you hurt me on purpose to make your points. In reality you are doing nothing but proving that you are indeed as heartless as you appear to be."

  "A heartless man following his heart? A heartless man who just admitted to you that he cannot help but love a woman who loves him too?"

  "What about Rommus's heart!" Pirius yelled as he raised the vase and made ready to shatter it on the marble floor. He stopped himself, but his dimpled cheeks were red with anger.

  "Pirius, Rommus is nowhere to be found. He has been missing for weeks. In all likelihood, he is probably part of this whole uproar in Medora. You don't find it suspicious that he disappeared when he did?"

  "No I don't. I was there when General Tirinius was informed about why Rommus left Brinn. He is not part of any upheaval. He was simply running for his life. He encountered Mages before he left and he felt the need to leave the city."

  "Is that right?" Uritus asked as he leaned forward in his chair. "Where did he go then?"

  "The soldier didn't say where he was going, but he was heading east through Taburdum. There aren't that many towns or cities directly to the east, so he probably turned north somewhere after Taburdum."

  "Or went into Vindyrion," Uritus said more to himself than to his brother. "When did you discover this?"

  "On the morning the army left for Vindyrion. Some soldier came and told the General about how his brother was supposed to arrive with the message days earlier but he fell or something and he died."

  Uritus thought back to when he met the Vindyri named Alana. As hard as he tried, he could not make sense of the situation. If she really was the woman who tried to kill Tannis, then why would she help Rommus? Why did they escape together? It just didn't make any sense at all. It was possible that she had lied about being the assassin, but what good would that have done her? He rested his chin on his fist as he thought about what part this Vindyri had to play in all of this. If he was going to get to Rommus, he needed all the information he could get about the girl he was with. They were probably escaping into Vindyrion where there were fewer Black Mages to worry about. The Black Mages there were even more secretive than the Silver ones, and never made public appearances. Certainly though, the Black Mages in Vindyrion had the same agenda that he had.

  Uritus realized his brother was staring at him as he was lost in his thoughts. "Pirius, I need my rest. Go find something to do."

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