The Brightest Shadow, page 20
Wait, where had she gotten the sword? Melal realized a moment later that it was his sword. How had she pulled it out of his sheath and gotten it to his neck so fast? He knew some warriors were faster than him, but being that fast shouldn't be possible.
"Okay, fuck the alcohol. Just take out whatever money you're carrying and set it in the wagon."
Pendaneyo stared at her in shock. "You... are you robbing us?"
Veron smirked at him. "Nah, this is just a weird bunch of coincidences. I just happened to wander into your camp, and in a bit I'll wander out again. Along the way I might happen to pick up a few things. But hey, we'll all be better off in the end, right?"
Melal backed away from the sword, clenching his fists. "How will we be better off if you steal from us?"
"That's a good point." Veron took another long drink from the gourd, then tossed it onto the ground behind her. "Thing is, I don't really give a fuck about you. So everybody's happy as far as I'm concerned."
"This isn't right," Tani said loudly. Melal stared at her, incredulous. Was she really going to try to convince this bandit? Veron turned toward Tani with a lazy grin, opened her mouth-
At that moment Slaten swept past Melal, blade thrusting at the bandit's back.
Though the attack came from behind, Veron somehow spun to the side to evade his thrust and turn toward him. Slaten hurriedly switched to a slash, yet Veron easily dodged out of the way. Suddenly she was inside his range, her elbow slamming into his chest.
It happened almost faster than Melal could follow, but somehow Slaten was falling back, bouncing off the ground. Yet he hadn't even tumbled to a halt before Tani hurled a pair of knives at the woman.
Two flashing sword strikes and both knives spun aside. Veron straightened and shifted her gaze between Slaten and Tani. She still had that cocky grin, yet it seemed to make both of them freeze in their attempts to attack again.
Only then did Melal realize that he'd stood by and done nothing. Speed had never been his strength, yet he thought he wasn't slow. Yet he hadn't been able to react like Slaten or Tani, and Veron had been much faster than both.
She spotted him staring and patted him on the cheek with the side of his own sword. "Smart boy. Well, not smart, but whatever." Abandoning the pretense, Veron easily jumped up into the wagon, keeping the sword at ready while tearing through their supplies with her other hand. "Normally I'd just kill you, but thanks to a certain someone I'm not doing that anymore. So there's two ways this can go."
Veron found a small flask and stopped talking to examine it. She unplugged it with one hand, took a swig, then absentmindedly put it somewhere inside her tattered cloak.
"I can take your stuff and go. Or I can beat you all within an inch of your life, then take your stuff and go. At some point somebody might shit themselves, but that's up to you." She waved his sword around idly, pointing at all of them. "Well? Anybody got opinions?"
Fuming, Melal stood in furious silence while the bandit woman looted their wagon. She found the money in the false bottom almost right away. He wanted to attack her while her back was turned, but had just seen how little good that would do.
The simple fact was that she was far better trained than them. Especially since their group was the least experienced... Melal realized that fact and began to smile. She'd attacked them while all the others were gone - probably because she was afraid! As he realized how her plan required staying away from the whole group, Melal regained a bit of confidence. They didn't need to beat her, just find Bardel and the others.
"Hey." Melal spoke in a whisper to Napenel and Pendaneyo. They flinched, but looked at him. "We need to get Bardel. Let's run for it."
"But... she'll see..." Napenel shivered like a coward. "She'll catch us..."
"She can't get us all. If we split up and yell, we'll get their attention before she can stop us." The cowards required more convincing than that, but eventually agreed. After all, Veron was nearly done taking what she wanted, and there was no guarantee she'd actually leave them alive after.
Slaten and Tani weren't even trying to fight anymore, instead moving together and watching uselessly. Their movement did draw Veron's attention, which was the best chance they'd get. Melal jerked his hand out in the signal and sprinted away, running with everything he had.
To his surprise, Napenel was almost as fast as he was, and Pendaneyo was even faster. They rushed over the grasses toward where the hunters had gone, Napenel already screaming himself hoarse. Idiot. Melal instead looked over his shoulder to see how close Veron was.
Except she was still standing on the wagon, watching them and scratching her ass. Even before Melal understood, a sense of horror began to well up in him...
When he looked forward, a man emerged in front of them. Short hair that was a Nol mix of blond and black, average height, grass-camouflaged leather armor. Not carrying a weapon, but he stood directly in their path. They tried to scatter, get around him. Napenel tripped as he dodged, falling beside the man, while Pendaneyo crashed into him shield-first.
Good, that would slow him down long enough for Melal to dodge around... except the man caught Pendaneyo's shield in a flowing movement, somehow neutralizing all his momentum. It was a gentle technique, skill over strength, stopping Pendaneyo without harming him.
Then the man ripped off Pendaneyo's arm.
Napenel screamed first, a cry of horror as the blood rained down over him. Pendaneyo cried out in pain next, but the man reached out and touched his neck. Gently, but the sound stopped. Only when the scream stopped did Melal realize that he had been shouting himself.
The man fixed Napenel with an expression of disdain and took a step toward him. Melal knew that he should do something, but his body was frozen. It shouldn't have been possible, to just rip off an arm like that. He had felt the internal strength in the movement, some power that he didn't understand. The impact of it still trembled through his body.
At that point Veron appeared beside them, finishing a drink and then wiping off her mouth with a sleeve. "You've ruined a lot of perfectly good intimidation. Hope you're happy."
"Were you going to just let them call the others?" the man asked.
"Why not? You know when he gets back, nobody will give a flying fuck."
They kept talking, but their words slipped out of Melal's mind. He felt a grim certainty that if he had been running first, he would have struck the man and been killed in exactly the same way. If he'd been a little faster... no, the slightest change in position, or just different ground while running - a little random luck and he would be the corpse.
It couldn't be. He was alive while Pendaneyo's corpse spilled blood onto the grass, and it couldn't be because of dumb luck. Melal crumpled to the ground, telling himself over and over that life and death couldn't be just random.
He had lived for a reason. There had to be one.
~ ~ ~
Though they'd considered running when Veron left, when Tani saw how fast she followed her partner, she reconsidered. Furthermore, Slaten had pointed out that her partner was unlikely to have been hiding at that specific point, instead moving around their group to intercept whoever fled. It was clear that these two thieves were quite skilled.
And so instead they sat and waited until the two returned. Tani had retrieved her two knives, since doing nothing made her uncomfortable. Yet even after a while sitting beside Eraes, she couldn't think of a reasonable path out of this.
Was it foolish to hope that they would live? Veron had explicitly said that she wasn't interested in killing them, but with the new man's appearance, Tani was worried. Why would two such powerful warriors be mere thieves? She was certain there was something more going on, but couldn't begin to come up with a plausible explanation.
"Alright, just... stay around here, I guess." Veron gestured vaguely at one of the wagons. "Don't try anything fancy, unless you think having fewer arms is fancy. If you do, knock yourself out. Actually, anybody who wants to knock themselves out, go right ahead. It'll make my job easier."
Meanwhile, her partner approached with the two Coran men, a hand on the shoulder of each. They walked strangely stiffly, then when the man pushed them down, they both fell. Melal got into a squatting position and just scowled at their captors, while the younger man collapsed to his knees. A low whimpering sound escaped his lips and he started to rock back and forth, gripping himself tightly.
It must be seinshock. Tani had always been a little skeptical of the concept, but now, looking into the empty eyes of a boy she didn't even know...
Violence was one thing, but violence caused so directly by sein... especially like that. The male thief hadn't used brute strength, instead letting his sein flow outside of himself and ripping apart his opponent's flesh from within. That sein was his life, his experience, everything he was - and it had violated another person's sein and destroyed them. It had horrified her from so far away, so to see it up close...
Tani wasn't brave enough to comfort the whimpering Coran boy. She tried to tell herself that it wasn't her place, since they'd barely even spoken. But she did move to crouch down beside Melal, put a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you okay?"
"No." He jerked his shoulder out of her grip. "I'm not hurt, but nothing's okay when those two could kill us at any time."
With that, he turned away and stared at the dirt, sulking. Tani regretted her judgment a moment later, since he had seen the violent act from up close as well. He needed to deal with that still, and she doubted that she could help. Besides, he did have a point about their main problem.
Veron and her partner were going through the other wagons, speaking to one another in low voices. Even though Tani strained her ears, she couldn't quite make out what they were saying. She wished that she had spent more time training sensory arts, though of course she could say that about many skills. From the tone of their voices it sounded like bickering, but she couldn't tell about the content.
Based on what they were taking first, they did seem like normal thieves. Yet after an argument, they emptied out the sleeping wagon and began dumping what they stole into it. Did they intend to take the entire wagon? Thieves taking aurochs and riding off slowly didn't seem like a good strategy.
Now that her heart wasn't in her throat, Tani took the chance to get a better look at the man. Slaten had said that he was from Nol or Tur-Nol, which weren't familiar to her. She had seen some in Bundlin, but they'd usually worn broad, flat hats and partially covered their faces with cloth. The thief wore only light armor and looked mostly Coran to her. His hair was unusual, the shorter hairs on the sides of his head dark and the longer hairs blond.
He had an ordinary enough face, covered in dark stubble but unremarkable. Though he moved with the grace of a warrior, she wouldn't have found him particularly striking if she hadn't seen what he'd done.
Except then he started walking toward her, and her heart began hammering in her chest again. There was cruelty in his eyes and a vile lust he didn't try to hide as he walked closer, his gaze moving over her. It did stop on her knives as well as the expected places, however. Tani carefully slipped two knives into her left hand.
"Relax, I'm not interested in fighting you." The man kept approaching and Tani wondered if she should attack. It seemed futile, but her only point of advantage would be while he was at a distance. "You can make all this a lot easier for yourself, you know."
"Efeinas..." Veron drawled from the wagon, glancing over her shoulder at him. "Do we really have the time for that? And you know he's not going to like it."
"He won't like it, but will he do anything?" At least the thief - Efeinas - stopped to turn and look at Veron. "Didn't do anything with that peasant girl. Hell, I thought he was going to 'put her out of her misery' himself. He doesn't give a shit unless Deathspawn are around."
The way Efeinas spoke about the peasant girl made Tani's stomach turn. There was no doubt what he had done, and the way he spoke about it so casually sent currents of both fear and anger through her. A thief might lack honor, but a rapist...
Tani drew her sickle knife and aimed it at him. "Don't approach me with friendly words. I know what you are, and I would slit my own throat first."
He looked at her with an expression of mild amusement. Then without warning he rushed at her, two fingers stabbing into her shoulder. There was a brief moment of pain, then numbness began to spread from the point he struck. Tani struggled to hang on to her sickle knife, but it slipped from her fingers.
"Fine, I won't touch you." Efeinas bent closer, hissing into her ear. "But if you keep looking at me with those eyes, I will tear you limb from limb."
Then he swept away from her, as fast as he'd come. Tani slumped back against the side of the wagon, clutching her shoulder. What had he done? Her arm felt heavy and lifeless, and when she tried to extend her sein it swirled uselessly around her shoulder. Gritting her teeth, Tani focused, struggling to push through the numbness.
Meanwhile, Efeinas was approaching Eraes. She jumped into the wagon, backing away with her eyes on him, and he chuckled. "Well, a Teralanthan woman. Not too many of you in the Chorhan Expanse, but I met a few in Nol Keranaln. Traditional beauty and fire, nice combination. Now, I want to see that fire, but if you want to avoid pain, I suggest y-"
"Don't bother the girl, Efeinas."
A confident, male voice. Tani whirled to see who it was, feeling a sense of relief that quickly crumbled.
It was him. The Hero. He was no longer silhouetted by the sun, yet his appearance remained blinding. That pure white tunic, and those eyes... his irises were as white as clouds and equally vast. When she saw him the world itself became brighter. Tani struggled to focus, squinting against the light that began to fill her.
"And I saw the boy in the grass... what did I tell you about ripping off arms, Efeinas?" The man's voice was so resonant, she wanted to believe whatever he said. He spoke Coran, yet she heard the words almost as if they were Nelhae spoken by a wise old master... "We need to be better than that. Transcend your past and take your role in the greater order."
"You're right, you're right." Efeinas nodded agreement quickly. Though Tani heard insincerity in his tone, it wasn't outright mockery. He seemed to have a difficult time taking his eyes off the Hero as well.
"Veron." The Hero turned to her with a smile. "I see you've reclaimed the useful items from the Deathspawn. And you didn't kill anyone."
She nodded, dropping her gaze and toying with the cap of her flask. "They have more than enough supplies to take us all the way to the outpost. And you wanted strong kids, right? Most of these have potential."
"Very good. I will speak with them to learn if they cannot see the way forward."
His gaze was paralyzing. Tani felt a surge of emotions from deep within her, hope and pride and terrible bright things she could not name. Those white eyes made her feel as though everything could be simple, as though this man could make everything else melt away.
"You're injured, child, but you will heal. Please lay aside past conflicts. All of us must fight together if we wish to defeat the enemy."
Somehow she found herself nodding in agreement. As the Hero turned away, Tani struggled to understand her own movements. It wasn't as though her head had moved on its own. At that moment, she had wanted to agree with him. No, there hadn't been any other option available, of course she would have agreed with him.
All negative emotions had faded and Tani struggled to regain them, to think clearly about what had just happened. Efeinas had gone to stand beside Veron and didn't seem likely to make a move on her or Eraes. Yet she remembered what he had done and could find some of the revulsion still within her. It was hard to think about what was happening, but she struggled to remember.
Her shoulder was still numb. Tani focused on that, letting her sein flow against the numb space. Slowly but surely, she could feel it trickling into her arm. Whatever technique he had used, it could be overcome, she just needed more time.
While she clung to that, she dimly saw the Hero approach the two Coran men. He lifted the younger man to his feet by his shoulders and brushed a bit of dust from his tunic.
"Good lad. You don't need to be afraid, we can fight together."
The simple words seemed to restore him, all trace of seinshock gone. Meanwhile, Melal had gotten to his feet on his own, squared his shoulders, and tried to look brave. Seeing him, the Hero gave a fond chuckle and clapped him on the shoulder.
"You have a brave heart, young man. I think we could become friends."
He was moving on, but Tani had to look away. Though her eyes wanted to follow him, she felt as though she was blinding herself by staring into the sun. She gripped her shoulder tighter and tried to focus on the memories. This man had killed Ghakin and Kanifor, struck them down like it meant nothing.
Tani dug her fingers into her skin until she felt pain through the numbness, then closed her eyes and tried to ignore the sun beating down on her.
~ ~ ~
It wasn't him.
When the Hero turned toward him, Slaten had been overcome by a mix of hope and horror. Against his will he had risen to his feet to meet the man. Extended a hand and was surprised when it was clasped firmly in the Oken style. The Hero's grip spoke of strength and confidence.
But it wasn't him. Before, the sun had been so bright and the violence so sudden, Slaten hadn't been sure. This time he could look directly into the man's face. He had the same pure white eyes, but his features were different from the smiling Hero who had slaughtered everyone. Slaten's mind was too numb to understand what that meant.
Though he had greeted all the others immediately, the Hero didn't say anything to him, even after they clasped wrists and stared at each other for a long moment. Eventually the man gave him a gruff nod and let go of his hand.
"Work hard and you might make something of yourself, kid."
With that, he left. Slaten felt lighter than he had before, yet his head ached. When he tried to look away, the grasses below seemed to spin and the clouds swelled like a wall bearing down on him. It was so much worse than it had been with the Rhen, or even during the rumors in town.
