Chapter 7

Year 163 – Summer – Quartus Mensis – 36th day

Tree-Fall Village, Velika Forest, northern Vale

The night shift had just ended, and the new guards were stretching before the sunrise. The night had left a fresh breath of morning dew. A man left his tent and shifted an eye patch from his right eye to cover his left one from the sun. His dark blond hair reached halfway across his neck. He wore a thick leather glove stretching from his left hand to his shoulder. In front of him was waiting a large eagle with a leather strap, which was attached to both his legs and linked to a stake jammed into the ground. The man gave a chunk of dry meat to his eagle before releasing the strap from its legs. The bird then quickly leapt to the man’s left arm and climbed the gauntlet all the way to his shoulder.

The man picked his bow and few arrows as he headed to the creek of Tree-Fall Village. His bird hopped down and sipped some water as the man washed his face. The man then marked the side of a tree and stepped away before drawing his bow. Exhaling as he aimed, his steady hand released his arrow right into his target. The arrow struck the tree and bounced off it. The man walked to the tree and looked at his mark; the wood was pushed in right in the middle. He picked his arrow up and whistled to his bird. After the eagle perched itself on his shoulder, the two of them left the creek. They walked to a prison chariot where five prisoners from House Krain were sitting. Aside from their soiled House Krain tabard, they were naked and had been starving for days.

Prisoner 1 – “What happened to my wife?”

The man with the bird – “Your wife?”

Prisoner 1 – “She was with the other girls in the second chariot. Yesterday, they brought them all to the large house over there! I heard her scream last night.

The man with the bird – “We have about 3,000 soldiers, and only a few hundred are women. That leaves more than 2,000 men who need to be kept in order.”

Prisoner 1 – “I know what they did to her, but she suddenly stopped screaming as if she’d been hit. I just want to know if she’s still alive. I need to know if they killed her because she resisted.”

The man with the bird – “You are on your death bed, and you still have hope for her?”

Prisoner 1 – “What other than hope can I have?”

The man with the bird – “Having nothing doesn’t make hope a possibility.”

Prisoner 1 – “I just want to know. If she’s dead, then so be it. Tell me! Not knowing tortures me.”

The man with the bird – “If you give me that ring of yours, I’ll check if she’s alive.”

Prisoner 1 – “It’s our wedding ring . . .”

The man with the bird – “Hers has most likely been taken away at this point. It’s up to you.”

Prisoner 1 – “You’ll come tell me if she’s dead?”

The man with the bird – “I will.”

The prisoner regretfully pulled his ring off his finger and looked at the man with the bird. The Kalator’s sight was filled with compassion as he laid his palm open half a foot away from the iron bars. The prisoner took a deep breath and slowly passed his hand between the bars to give his ring to the soldier. As his hand reached out, the man with the bird quickly grabbed the prisoner’s hand and held it in a firm grip. The prisoner dropped the ring on the ground and tried to pull his hand back, but the man held his grip as his compassionate expression now transformed into the face of a hunter contemplating his prey with satisfaction and pride.

The other prisoners tried to pull their friend back, but they were too weak from their prolonged starvation.

Prisoner 2 – “Let his hand go! He dropped the ring!”

The man with the bird – “Oh, I care little about that ring. But there wasn’t much to hunt this morning, and my bird is hungry. A small lump of flesh will do.”

They tried once more to pull the prisoner away, yet failed again as the man pulled his dagger out. He carefully placed the tip of his dagger on the prisoner’s arm and gently pressed to gauge the amount of flesh he’d gather.

The man with the bird – “If your wife is as combative as you say, I’ll teach her some manners.”

Prisoner 1 – “You fucking liar!”

The man with the bird – “Oh, but I didn’t lie; I’ll check if she’s alive, and I’ll take that ring of yours. I am a man of honour, but we had no agreement on any other matters. Now, you can move or stay still, but if you move, you’ll injure yourself even more.”

As the man began slicing through the prisoner’s flesh, the prisoner shook his arm, hoping to pull it away by any means with the help of the other prisoners. As the man finished cutting the lump of flesh, the prisoner’s arm bled heavily.

The man with the bird – “I told you not to move.”

Prisoner 2 – “The gods won’t have any pity for your soul!”

The man gave the lump of flesh to his eagle, who ate the whole piece. He then walked to the nearest fire, grabbed a piece of white ember with his gloves, and threw it between the iron bars, almost burning the feet of the prisoners.

The man with the bird – “If you don’t want to die, you should cauterise the wound. Now, if you would excuse me, I will go give breakfast to your wife.”

The prisoner spat on the man’s feet as he crouched to grab the ring from the ground.

The man with the bird – “I bet your wife loves that.”

Prisoner 1 – “I curse you before Nocna Mora! May my soul be used to pay his deed!”

The man with the bird – “Oh, really?”

Prisoner 1 – “When you’ll await it the less, when you’ll have what you dreamed of! When you’ll be peacefully resting after a long life of servitude to your lord! When you’ll believe to be away from the reach of all the threats of anger that this world has to offer! A shadow of Nocna Mora will end your despicable and miserable life!”

As the prisoner was cursing at the man, a soldier approached them.

Soldier 2 – “Atilos!”

The man with the bird – “What?”

Soldier 2 – “Lord Egmond wants to see you at the council today.”

Atilos – “I’ll be there.”

Prisoner 1 – “ATILOS! I KNOW YOUR NAME! I CURSE YOU ATILOS!”

Soldier 2 – “Oh . . . I shouldn’t . . .”

Atilos – “It’s fine.”

Prisoner 1 – “You are doomed!”

Atilos – “You know you’ve relinquished your right to see your wife in the afterlife?”

Prisoner 1 – “It is worth it to end the life of a man like you.”

Atilos – “Well, in that case, I’ll keep the warm company of your wife in the afterlife as well.”

The prisoner kept cursing at Atilos as he walked away from them.