Unending Battle: Part 4

Thats my name for the Role play story.

Rine had followed Demigod out of the bar. She had seen the entire confrontation with Demigod and the two vandals until they had talked about Katara and Arryd being in the waggon, when she had left to find the waggon.

She reverted all fours and loped down the street. She's been here a few times before with her family on trading excursions. She knew the town pretty well.

The road that left in the direction of Sanim Htirit was to the west, so she took a back alley and ended up on a westerly road.

She saw a large waggon laden with supplies, which made sense, because Sanim Htirit was a long ways off.

She leaped in through the back flap and landed on a sack of grain. She looked around and saw Katara's eyes.

Those giant sky blue eyes asking her to remove the gag in her mouth. Rine tugged on the gag and it came loose.

“Thank goodness. I'm pretty sure that the gag came off Rod's foot.”

Rine nodded. Yuck. Rine untied Katara's bonds.

“They knocked out Arryd.” She said, gesturing at Arryd's limp body. Rine rubbed her hands and chuckled.

“Yeah, I get to play with his face.” She had a devilish look on her face. She crawled over to Arryd's body and started poking his face.

“One, two, three, four,” she counted after every poke, “Five, six, seven, eight.... aw man!” then Arryd woke up.

“Where is Demigod?” he asked, rubbing his head.

“He's kickin' some butt.” said Rine matter of factly.

“I'll go find him.” said Katara. She stood and left the waggon. She walked down the lane and found the bar that Demigod and Rine had gone into early.

“She peeked inside and scanned the room for his dark greasy hair. She saw plenty, but none of its was near as short as Demigod's.

She left. She was walking back down the street when a man ran smack into her. It was Demigod.

“Wholey smoke, Katara! How on earth did you escape?” he asked. She noticed the long cut above his eyes.

“Oooohhh, Demigod. Your bleeding!” She said.

“Yes I know.... Have you seen Rine?” He asked.

“Huh? Rine? Oh yeah, she's with Arryd back at the waggon.” Demigod sighed in relief.

“Uhm, Demigod? You know you have a giant cut on your forehead right?” She said.

“Yes, I know. Take me to Rine and Arryd.” he said.

“Okay. Shouldn't you have somebody take care of that?” she asked.

“We will, but I have a feeling this waggon is part of the group that we are joining.”

“Okay, it this way.” Said Katara. She turned and walked in the direction of the waggon. Demigod followed.

When they came to the waggon, a girl was entering it.

“Who are you?!?” she shouted.

“Demigod. I believe that I agreed to join this caravan with a man in the Blur Gryphon?” he said to the girl.

“Kouken? That's just like him.” she said.

“I believe that we will be leaving for Sanim Htirit as soon as the moon rises?” Demigod asked the girl.

“Yeah. My name is Kayla by the way. You know that you have a head wound right?” she said.

“Yes I know. I'm Demigod and this is Katara.” he said. Katara noticed that the girl had a quiver of arrows and a unstrung bow. She tried to get a glimpse of her ears to see if she was an elf. Nope. Rounded mortal ears.

She had auburn hair that was cut short, around the ears. She appeared to be about Demigod's age, just leaving her adolescent years. She had pointed grey eyes and high arching eyebrows.

Demigod wiped the blood out of his eyes and went to the back of the waggon. Arryd came out with Rine.

“These are my companions. Arryd, elf. Rine, Furry. Katara, human.” he said.

“Welcome aboard. Can I help you with that wound?” asked Kayla. Demigod resigned to let her. She sat him down on a barrel and went to grab some bandages from waggon. Demigod pulled the Fandril from her sheathe and cleaned the blade.

Arryd noticed the colour of the blade.

“Demigod... You have a Blacksword.” he said, a slight tremble in his voice.

“What does that mean?” asked Rine.

“I do indeed Arryd. But it is not out of malice. It was a mere accident.”

“What does 'Blacksword' mean?” asked Rine again.

Demigod said nothing. He replaced Fandril back in her sheathe. Rine thought that she saw the slight shimmer of a tear, but Demigod wiped it away.

Kayla came back and applied a salve that would fight infection. Then she wrapped it in bandages.

“Thank you.” said Demigod.

“Anytime.” replied Kayla. Demigod stood and walked to Rine he fiddled with his Fandril's hilt.

“What does Blacksword mean?” asked Rine.

“Rine, if I told you that I had committed a terrible crime, but it was an accident, what would you say?” he asked her. He had squatted down to her height. Fandril's pummel brushed against her stomach.

“Well, if it was an accident I would think that you would be okay.” She said.

“What if I told you that I had started the fire that had burned down you village, but it had been an accident, what would you say?” he asked.

“Well... it was an accident.... Well, I guess I'd be pretty mad and upset. Did you?” she said.

“No, Rine. But the Blacksword is the mark of a murderer. I killed a girl. She was actually my best friend, but I killed her accidentally. Now my sword is black as midnight to remind me.”

Rine stared at him. Demigod looked into her eyes.

“Did you love her very much?” she asked after a long moment of silence.

“Yes, Rine. I did love her very much.”

“Then you okay in my book.” she said.

Demigod straitened up.

“But Demigod, I have a question.”

“What?” he said.

“Well, two actually. How old are you?” she asked.

“I have been told that I was born in the year that Heanor ascended the throne of Sanim Htirit. That would make me twenty-one summers old.”

“Okay, and one other. Can we get something to eat? I'm starving.” she said. Demigod chuckled and pulled a loaf of bread from a satchel around his neck. He handed it to her along with an apple.

“There you go.” he said. He walked over to Kayla, who had a map spread out over a crate, to plain a course.

Katara had overheard Demigod and Rine's conversation. Demigod had murdered a girl? Supposedly on accident?

Weird. It sent a shiver down her back. He seemed very remorseful about it though. She thought about her secret.

Should she tell them? Demigod had shared his darkest secret, but his sword automatically tagged him as a murderer, so it wasn't to dark.

She remembered her when she had first found out. She was thirteen summers old. Today was the day she had been born, and nobody had given a rats behind.

She had been climbing around a pile of rocks that rose ten storied into the air.

She had reached the top, her first time ever. She had stood atop it and proclaimed:

“I am Katara and today I become a Woman, and nobody gives a rat's rear!” she had sat down on the top of the pile and brooded for a awhile.

She stood up to shout something else, when she lost her footing and fell. She free fell for fifty feet when she got tingly all over and suddenly she had wings and talons.

She had experimentally flapped her wings, and before she knew it, she was flying. She let out a joyous burst of flame.

She had landed at the bottom of the pile and got the tingly feeling again. She had become herself again.

She had looked herself over. Had she really just done that? Had she really turned into a dragon or was she just unconscious at the bottom of the pile of rocks.

She slapped herself and decided that she was most definitely awake. She then named the pile of rocks, Pinnacle of Realization.

“If we take the Windeberg road, we could get there in fourteen days time.” argued Kayla.

“But there is a better chance of being attacked if we take that route. We should move through the Rean pass. That is a much safer route.” objected Demigod.

“But it is too late in the season. We would be snowed in. Windeberg is better.” Kayle protested.

“I have a girl and a Furry who don't know how to defend themselves. If we take the Windeberg, we stand a serious chance of attack. If we are attacked, what are we going to do?” returned Demigod.

“Kouken and I can drop a thousand men.” stated Kayla.

“In the dead of night, when they come like wolves?” asked Demigod.

“Certainly.” Kayla assured him .

“If one of them gets hurt, I'm blaming you.” warned Demigod. He turned to face a large man with an axe in his hand.

“Do what you must small man.” growled the larger man. He was the size of a bear with an attitude to go along. Demigod looked into his eyes, staring him down. The bear of a man, who must have been Kouken, stared right back. For a moment it seemed as if there very minds where at war. Kouken hefted his axe and Demigod placed his hand on Fandril.

“I could take you.” said Demigod.

“Do you want to try shrimpy?” asked the mountain of a man.

“So how about the weather lately?” asked Kayla, heading off a conflict. Kouken growled, which definitely sounded right coming from him, and turned away.

Demigod stood and stared at Kouken's back.

Kayla sidled up to Arryd and said:

“Ya know, there going to conflict.”

“Yes. It is inevitable.” Arryd sighed.

“Two alpha males battling it out.” Kayla replied.

“We will have to try and head off them clashing.” decided Arryd.

“Definitely. Who is the Furry?” Kayla asked. She had always been fascinated by the race of canine like people.

“That is Rine. She and Demigod have built a sort of bond. He saved her life. Twice.” explained Arryd.

“Twice? Really? How does that work out?” Kayla enquired.

“She is in his debt twice fold. Yet he still looks only for her good.”

“How long have they known each other?” questioned Kayla.

“Less than a week.”

“Wow. That is quite the friendship.” exclaimed Kayla. She walked back to the waggon to make inventory of there supplies.

The full moon rose in the midnight sky. Earlier Demigod had bartered out his long knife for a strong horse. The horse was midnight black, just like Demigod's hair. He saddled the horse and pulled Rine up on the rump of the horse.

“To Sanim Htirit.” Said Demigod and he slapped the haunches of the horse. It sped into night.

Katara, Arryd, Kayla, and Kouken followed with the waggon, which Kouken pulled himself.

Demigod and Rine road about a mile ahead at a brisk run. Demigod kept one eye on the road and the other on the hills around them.

Suddenly, ten feet in front of them there stood a toothless old man with a long sword in his hand.

“Eyed stop i' eye were ye.” He said. Demigod pulled they reigns taught. He turned to Rine and said:

“Dismount silently. Alert the rest of the group.” He whispered hastily in her ear.

Demigod himself dismounted to mask Rine's movements and approached.

“I have as much right to ride upon this rode as you.” He said.

“Tha' may be so. Bu' I got a ax an a grou' o' boys oo wanna pay off som debts.” Said the toothless man with devilish grin on his face.

“Sir, I am armed and could kill you now if I had the desire to.” Said Demigod calmly.

“Tha' so?” enquired the man.

“Yes it is.” Demigod unleashed Fandril with a flourish and jammed the point beneath the old toothless man's smile. It immediately went away.

“Meet Fandril.” said Demigod.