Birthright: Lord of Arda (4 page)

Chapter VII

Alexander

Alexander turned back to make sure they hadn’t been followed. As Braden walked up to the front door, he heard the door open and heard Bronn’s voice. He was alive that was a good omen. He was the best swordsman Alex knew, he was more than a match for these barbarous attackers. He turned towards the house and watched as Bronn walked out shutting the door behind him, his head dropped, a defeated look in his eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

Alexander stepped up beside him and Bronn only shook his head, he felt his stomach flip his jaw dropping open. Braden, his friend didn’t need any more sorrow in his life, he was an only child his father disappearing before he was born leaving his mother in Farnshire to raise him alone, her heart was broken when he left she had taken years to overcome her sorrow and move on, by the time she did her body began to fail, the healer had said something about Braden’s birth having a long term effect on her health. Alexander had thought it all lies, something made up to hide the fact that the healer didn’t have an idea what was wrong. Shaking his head he stepped forward raising his hand to the door, Bronn placed his hand on Alex’s arm pulling him away.

“No. They have to be alone now.”

“He's my friend, he needs me now.”

“He will need you more after. Now come keep guard with me they are still out there.”

He pulled him around placing a hand on his back pushing him away from the house. Alexander stood looking out at the burning village, more houses had caught fire, almost two thirds were ablaze now. The tavern where it all had started had collapsed in on itself. By morning Farnshire will be a ruin, if the townsfolk weren’t dead they had fled long into the night making for Corshire or Bakershire.

“Did your mother and father get out ok?”

Bronn’s voice in the dark caught him by surprise, Alex turned to look at the man who still stood straight as an arrow, his gaze fixed out at the village, his body hardly moving only the small rise and fall of his chest giving an indication, he was not a statue.

“Umm, Yes. They are making their way to Corshire. We are going to meet them there.”

Bronn didn’t respond, he carried on staring out at the village. Alex shook his head, he was a strange man. He remembered when he had asked to be trained by Bronn to use a sword. The old man had just laughed back at him, stating something about his bulk and size would make him a poor swordsman at best and telling him that he needed flexibility and grace, not brute strength to fight with a blade, maybe a hammer or an axe would be better for him.

“Uther is a strong and bright man, I could have guessed he would have made it out of here quickly.”

Alex didn’t know what to say back to him. He only stared at him, trying to comprehend how the old man thought. The two stood there for what seemed like hours but by the movement of the moon was only thirty minutes. They watched as the shadows of men moved about the village before disappearing off into the woods to the East and road to the North and the fires continued to burn. Finally the door creaked open, Alexander turned slowly not wanting to look his friend in the eye straight away. Braden moved slowly out of the house, a lantern raised in his left hand, tucking something under his shirt with his right.

“She is dead?”

“Yes Bronn.” He replied solemnly.

The old man lowered his head before looking up at the sky whispering a small prayer. Braden turned to Alexander his eyes were cold. No emotion was showing and it didn’t look right. He was used to his friend’s eyes being full of passion.

“Braden. I am so sorry.”

“Thank you Alex. But we need to move.”

He stepped up to them both looking Bronn in the eye before Alex.

“She told you.”

Braden nodded to Bronn. Alexander was confused, told him what?

“Give me that.”

The old man pointed to the old crooked blade that Braden had in his belt. His friend passed it over without a second thought. Bronn pushed the blade into the earth before reaching round his waist untying his sword belt and handing it back to Braden. As he grabbed the scabbard, Bronn drew the blade quickly from its sheath, Alexander was shocked at the speed. He knew that the old man was skilled but Bronn had always made himself look as if age had slowed him and if it had, Alex dared to think how quick he had once been. The blade was polished steel reflecting the flames from the village even from this far away, Alexander could tell the blade was made by an expert craftsman, even his father would be jealous of a blade like that. The blade was just over a metre long, ending in a silver cross guard, the handle was wrapped in white leather and sat in the middle of the guard.

On both sides was an emblem of a rose made from a single white stone. Alexander could tell that it symbolised something important to Bronn. It was as well taken care of as the blade, shining in the light from the flames.

“Thank you Bronn.”

Braden placed the belt around his waist tightening the buckle before Bronn passed the blade back to him.

“Take care of it.”

Braden then turned back to Alexander.

“Alex, you are my best friend, but I understand if you want to go to Corshire with your mum and dad.”

“Why? Where are you going?”

Alexander was surprised. Why wouldn’t he want to go to Corshire, was it because of his mother? Maybe seeing people from the village would make him think of her.

“I need to go to the Capital.”

“The Capital? Why would you need to go to the Capital?”

“That’s where my father is.”

Alex could feel the hurt in his voice speaking about his father, he couldn’t truly understand how he felt but Braden had spoken to him a few times about how he hated his father for leaving his mother the way he had. That, if he ever saw him, he would beat him within an inch of his life for what he had done or not done.

“Look, it’s my mother’s wish for me to see him at least once.”

“Braden, you don’t need to explain yourself. I'll come with you, what are friends for. Bronn are you coming with us?”

“No. I'm not welcome in the capital, not at the moment.”

“Will you go to Corshire and tell my parents about where we are going and we will be back as soon as we can?”

“Of course. Maybe between myself and Uther we can come back to salvage something of Farnshire.”

He paused looking over the two young men, he caught both their eyes before continuing.

“Now listen you need to move quickly, we don’t know where the attackers are or where they came from. But me and Alex observed them heading East and North. It looks like they are heading back onto the Silver Road, which as you know is the quickest way to the Capital. Instead you need to head West into the forest then North West until you reach the port town of Maidenpool, taking a ship from there around the cape and up the river towards Alton. It’s slower than by horse but quicker than by foot so it may be a blessing in disguise.”

“Thanks Bronn. One last thing.”

Alexander watched him turn and face the small house he had called home, he could just make out a whisper of a prayer before Braden threw the lantern onto the thatched roof. The door was left open and the flame took hold quickly. Alexander raised his head to the sky and prayed out loud for Braden’s mother to watch over them. Looking back down Braden had turned around a smile on his face, his face was wet but again his eyes were cold.

“Thank you.”

“No problem Braden.”

Chapter VIII

Alexander

Alex pushed back a branch to allow him to keep moving forward, the trail was rarely used and overgrown in many places forcing them to either cut through or make their way around. Looking up into branches he could just make out the sun’s position. It was almost noon and they had been on the move since before sunrise, his body was caked in sweat, the moisture in the air causing his clothes to stick to him. Braden couldn’t take off the chainmail shirt Alex’s father had given him and from the looks of it, Alex could see he was suffering in the conditions more than him. He was worried about his friend, he had hardly said a word since they left the village, only a few short lines like ‘we need to go left’ broke the silence between him. Alex didn’t know if he should break the silence or not, he knew his friend was hurting inside, he had just lost his mother, his home and now he was heading to the capital to find his father. Was he going for revenge for leaving him and his mother or was he heading there for solace in the one family member he had left? He didn’t seem angry, nor did he seem happy about heading to the capital, just empty, which was the worst of feelings. He decided he needed to break the silence, just to gauge how his friend was feeling.

“So… How long do you think we are going to be in here for?”

There was a long silence and for a while he didn’t think Braden was going to reply, until he stopped.

“I don’t know maybe three or four days, we keep going back on ourselves this trail is anything but straight.”

Alex smiled, Braden’s voice didn’t sound distraught or upset which was good. Alex ducked under another low branch, he wasn’t looking forward to the trail getting any worse. Braden was a little more nimble than him and could duck and weave around the low branches and over the roots which crisscrossed the path. He had already stubbed his toe on three or four occasions and was already tired of the forest. Suddenly the silence was broken by a scream, Alex jumped smacking his head on the branch he just ducked under, he watched Braden spin in front of him drawing Bronn’s blade in one fluid motion. Alex turned himself raising his hammer, he didn’t know what he was preparing for. Was it the attackers from the village or perhaps a vicious animal which lurked in the forest? They both stood still. There was hardly any wind blowing and it had become eerily quiet without the sound of their own movement. Then the scream came again, this time it was closer and louder. It sounded like a child.

“It’s close, come on.”

Alexander didn’t have a chance to respond, as he watched Braden dart past him back down the trail. He knew his friend had the hero sprit but after last night charging towards the sound of screaming was the last thing he wanted to do. Launching into a jog he followed his friend back down the path, he struggled to keep up with Braden as he sprinted away.

“Slow down, it could be a trap.”

He couldn’t tell if his friend had heard him as another scream ripped through the forest. Alex was already tired. They had hardly slept the night before and had been moving ever since they woke to the fires in Farnshire, the run was taking the last bit of strength away from him. He saw Braden take a left away from the trail and followed suit. Turning off he leapt up and over the trunk of a fallen tree into a clearing. Stopping on its edge he saw Braden kneeling just to one side. Alex couldn’t tell if he was alright he was staring at the back of the chainmail shirt. He ran across to his friend, who seemed to be talking in a hushed voice. As he got near he saw blood on Bronn’s sword and immediately tightened his grip on the hammer.

“Braden are you alright? What…”

Within a few feet of his friend he saw the outline of a small boy. Walking closer he soon got a full view him.

“Troy. Are you ok?”

Alex knelt down next to Braden, the boy was sat on the floor his eyes full of terror. He flinched at the sight of Alex and then again when he knelt down beside him.

“Yeah, he seems ok, I can’t see any bite marks, more scared than anything.”

Alex watched Braden as he surveyed the boy for any marks. Troy’s eyes were locked on something over Alex’s shoulder. He turned to see the decapitated body of a snake. The beast was huge, almost ten foot long it’s body was dark green the underside a bright gold and as thick as Alexander’s leg. He stood and looked around finding the Beast’s head a few feet away, rolling it over with his foot he looked into its blood red eyes. It’s fangs still protruding from the corner of its mouth. It was the largest snake he had ever seen. He had ventured a few times into the forest with his father when they needed Knotacher wood for his forge. It was a tree native only to the south of Arda and a majority of it grew here it was one of the reasons blacksmiths in the Roost were sort after. He had seen a few snakes then but the largest was three or four feet in length.

He remembered a story his father had told him, on one of their first trips into the forest to keep him close to himself and the edge of the forest.

“Braden. Do you know what this is?”

"A very big snake!"

“It’s a Golden Naga.” Squeaked Troy.

Troy's voice was full of fear. He was right to be afraid, the Naga was the most dangerous snake known to man. To see and survive such an encounter was extremely rare as they normally hunted at night, the venom was the most toxic substance in the continent, a small drop enough to kill a man in ten heartbeats and a phial was worth Alex's weight in gold. The old women told that to see a Naga and survive was a sign that the Goddess Ori not only favoured you but had given you a great destiny. Adventurous and ambitious Knights use to stalk the forests of Arda and Eridth looking for the Naga hoping to slay one and gain riches and fame. Alex felt something well up inside of him before he burst out laughing, catching Braden and Troy by surprise.

“For such a legendary and terrifying beast, you did quite well my friend. Maybe you are destined to be great.”

He mocked his friend, who only looked at him with slight distaste, before nodding down at Troy who still sat there frozen in terror. Alex smiled at the compassion his friend showed to the boy, it seemed the previous night’s events had not hardened his soul as much as he thought. Stepping closer he knelt down next to Braden and whispered into his ear.

“Perhaps we should call it a day. We are both tired and the boy will need some rest as well, I doubt he slept last night. We’ll walk to the next clearing and pitch up there for the night. Give me your blade and I’ll cut up some of the snake and we can have some meat.”

Alexander pulled the small blade from the sheath on Braden’s boot before watching his friend pull up the boy and lead him back onto the path. Troy’s eyes were still locked onto the snake as he departed the clearing, heading back up the trail. Alexander looked back down at the long body of the snake, it was still twitching slightly and he had to look back over to see its separated head to steady himself before smiling. He plunged the knife into the flesh and began carving away pieces of thick muscle. Before he left the clearing he walked over to the head, he had fashioned a small satchel from some of his torn clothes and surrounding sticks. Pushing the fangs back into the jaw with the blade he placed the head into the basket closing the lid tight.

“So much for the terror of the forest.”