The sky was a vivid crimson the same as the color of the blood that oozed from the multiple wounds in his person dripping down ever-so steadily to create a sizeable puddle on the earth below.
The leather covering him tattered ; the piece afore his breast slashed beyond recognition.
His black hair clumped ; dyed in blood having lost its sheen long ago.
Each and every of his bone broken ; each and every of his muscle torn beyond repair.
His breathing ragged ; with pronounced chaotic gasps and wheezes without any fixed interval like a old crone on his deathbed.
Yet it mattered not for his sword had found its mark.
It pierced true .Deep into the neck it had ingrained itself like it had never been alien to it all.
Even so all it had to show for its efforts was a thin-line of red like a string that interlinked the two of them.
It was as if they were back in the glades ; the sun gently grazing against their backs , the wind blowing with it the fragrant smell of blossoms their way ; their hands held aloft the red string tied across their fingers.
Nothing had changed at all since then.
The sun was the same , the wind still carried with the very same fragrance as that day.
Her smile was the same as well ; a beautiful bloom that would lit up the darkness of a new moon's night.
Yes, they were back there again, he thought.
Forever this time .He wasn't going to lose someone again this time.
He cradled her head in his arms and bawled like a child even as their blood soaked the earth intermingling with each other in a world far away from the one above.
"Boom ,Boom,Boom !"
The door pounded at a furious pace as if subjected to the whims of a raging elephant.The intense thumping was enough to disrupt every Tom, Dick and Harry from getting their forty winks and Brenn was no exception.The half awake Brenn was treated to the furore that followed inevitably in response to 'boorish' behavior in a tavern.
Unfortunately he wasn't able to implement his standard policy in such situations turn your head , cover it with a pillow and go back to sleep.
The door giving way would have something to do with it.
"Crash!"
With an almighty heave his door shook and promptly gave way crashing inside his lodgings with such a tremendous force that it caused a rain of splinters all over that he managed to barely dodge , half-asleep as he was.
Through the just created door-shaped cavity shrouded for the most part in plumes of dust he could barely make out a couple of the representatives of the finer folk including the tavern keeper;
a pot-bellied man of fifty odd whose only purpose in life was to express an unhealthy level of interest in affairs that had absolutely nothing to do with them.
They were together man-handling a teenager of around 15-16 in age who possessed no distinct markers except for the unusually high level of enthusiasm that was being employed to argue with his captors.
Sadly,though he was quite out of depth here ,there was no way a lively rabbit would win an argument against a pack of wily foxes.Especially those that had their slumber disturbed.No chance at all.
Brenn would have been happy to see the show for a while longer unfortunately a certain justification propelled him to action unwittingly.
"But I have come to meet the knight in this room , right ? You lot could at least get me to talk to him ! Drag me to the lockup afterwards if you want to ! "
"You got a knight here ,eh John? Never knew you catered to big shots as well now .Ya thinking about going toe-to-toe with them Smiths ?
"Surely you jest,Since when can my humble establishment compare with those run by the esteemed Smith Family.As for the Knight that the lad is talking about ,there is indeed one there in the room yonder.Though I reckon he's one of them Wanderers doesn't seem like one from those noble families anyway ."
"Where do I hail from is none of your business ,I take it"
The tavern-keeper 's face turned as white as a sheet at the sight of the imposing presence standing behind the door.Though the silhouette of the person beyond was vague with all the dust fluttering about there was no mistaking the aura emanating from it.
It was one that made the tavern-keeper blanch with fear and his companions take to his heels dropping the boy abruptly.
It was one that made the tavern-keeper stoop ,grovelling profusely."Please,p..It wasn't me..."
Brenn ignored the tavern-keeper's entreaties his only response was to drop a gold coin down the tavern-keeper's shirt pocket."That's for the door and I trust that you have a secluded room where it is possible to converse without being disturbed."
"Of..of course Right this way ,Sir." The astounded tavern-keeper paused for a moment clearly revealing his inner astonishment and relief at being spared on his face before promptly proceeding to lead the way.
Brenn sighed looking at the boy before him who was so surprised that he had been rendered
paralyzed.
"Get going brat, I hope for your sake that whatever you have is worth disrupting my sleep"
A couple of minutes later after they had been seated comfortably in the now empty saloon (this had required some hand-waving and frantic gesturing on the Tavern-Keeper's part ) , were treated to a couple of drinks (the Tavern's finest they were told ) and were finally left alone ( this had required a pointed stare from Brenn's part and a further measure of leaving some of his aura on the door to discourage any potential eavesdropping .He wasn't sure whether it would be useful though )
Brenn decided to begin his interrogation.
"So.." "Puff !" Barely had he began though when a sound came from the door like flesh being electrocuted followed by a short and muffled scream,of course.His measures seemed to have been effective he thought to himself drily.
"So..", he continued looking at the lad sitting in front of him unmoved at all by the sudden bang earlier immersed as he was in his drink which even Brenn noted had an amazing consistency rather like mud and a strength to match it with as well.
He sighed before flicking gently with his index finger.The tip of which crackled blue-white rather like lightning.A minute later the boy was sitting bold upright like he had just been exposed to an electric shock.
Which he had been of course .
Aura tends to have effects like that .
He had learned this trick from his former master and it had served him far greater use than some of the other techniques he had learned .At least frequency wise .
"Well, then"
"Right sorry sire to disturb you like this , But the guild wasn't receiving my quest and I thought..."
"Wait a bit there, brat .What do you mean the guild not accepting your quest? What exactly does it entail ? As far as I know they are willing to accept literally anything if you have the money.Especially one which could possibly involve Knights ."
"What you say is theoretically true ,sire .But please hear me out first and I'm sure you would understand the fix we find ourselves in ."
"Who is this 'we ' that you're referring to ?
"By we I mean the residents of the Plum Wood Village or at least what's left of us that is."
He took a long swig from the cup in front of him clearly gathering some courage .Brenn neither stopped or interrupted him . He just watched him silently even as his ears were in full attention to the boy's words
" Our village is located not far from here.About a dozen of miles or so thereabouts.
We are primarily engaged in farming.Potatoes that's our specialty .
We were leading happy and content lives.
Of course, the exorbitant taxes did take their toll on us and the Draft just filled us all with rage but even then we did not express too much of an affect in our lives.
We tilled our land gave most of the produce when the Lord's retinue came knocking and that was all.
We led our lives as always .
But then everything changed that night a week ago."
Herein he took a pause to take another long gulp .However he did not continue automatically ; he was immobile , his face twisted in fear no doubt on account of reminiscing events that had a left a profound effect deep in his psyche.
"What happened ? " Brenn prodded him gently
"They..they came in droves."He whispered , his voice still shaking in the fear that his face expressed.
"Who are they ?"
"Orcs. An entire tribe of them .
Led by an abomination , an abnormally large monstrosity riding a wolf of immense proportions .
They came like a swarm of locusts blotting out the entire sky behind them lighting the entire world we saw in crimson flames .
They pillaged everything there was in our village.
Looting women and livestock ; putting any who resisted to the sword.
It was like a never-ending nightmare ."
Brenn's fists clenched and unclenched as if he were reliving an unpleasant memory as well.
"What about the Lord ? Did he send no forces for assistance ?"
"The Lord " , he scoffed ," He was busy holing himself up like a hedgehog in his castle.Fat lot of good it did him too .His castle was sacked too , not long after ."
Brenn nodded in understanding ."In that case what is your request ?"
The boy who seemed like all the life had been sucked out of him suddenly grew animated as if all of it had returned all at once .
He reached forward knocking aside his cup and the jug of ale in the process though neither of the two paid any heed to that .
His hands were now grasping Brenn's , his face wrinkled in a mixture of sorrow and hope quite uncharacteristic of someone of his age as he held Brenn's hands n trepidation
"Please bring her back...bring them all back ?"
Brenn's brows deepened into a frown ."What do you mean ?"
"My elder sister.. and many other women from the village were taken by them .The orcs.Back to their lair ! That's when we decided to issue a quest at the guild ."
"So , why come here then ? I'm sure that the guild would be happy to take it off your hands."
"But that's the thing ! There are hardly accepting any requests , now .We were shooed away before we could even place a request.Most of the lower tiered Knights are fighting at the frontlines and we don't have enough to hire a High ranked one ..That's ..that's when "
"What happened then ?"
"That's when we came to here of you, You're perhaps the last remaining Knight in town we could afford .Not to mention you were rumoured to be not so snobbish as the rest of them plus you have an excellent track record .That's why we wish to hire you sire !" .
The last words were delivered at a crescendo however Brenn remained as he was stoic and unfazed.
"How much are you offering ?" He said at last when the silence became awkward.
The boy quoted a figure.
Brenn remained motionless merely raising his eyebrows for a moment.
The boy after seeing this began to visibly grow anxious,"Is it not enough ? But it is all we have with us .After the orcs looted us ,not much remained ,we scraped together all we could."
He gritted his teeth as if making a decision," How about I sell myself , sire ? You could make up the rest with the price for which I'm sold."
"You?" The boy's proposition did naught but bring forth a derisive laughter from Brenn.
"I would hardly get a couple of coppers for you,brat.Treasure your life more and use it where you truly need it."
He leaned back on his chair and sighed for a bit before replying,"I will take your commision,boy ."
"Thank you , Thanks a lot..I, Lance and the entire Plum Wood village will forever be indebted to you !"
"Keep your thanks to yourself , lad and give me the money when I'm done.I give you no promises though after so long all I may get for my efforts might be naught but pain and suffering for you ."
"We are prepared for that as well, even if only a bone remains which we can bury ,We are fine with that.Fine.."
Brenn didn't have the heart to mention that there was a high chance that even a bone may not be left.
Orcs were voracious eaters who could literally gorge on anything and everything.
It would be a miracle if any of the womenfolk were alive and those that were would have been better dying after the Orcs had their way with them.
Looking at the boy in front of him desperately holding on to a distant hope however frail he didn't have the heart to pour a bucket of cold water on him waking him to the cruel reality
Brenn couldn't help but laugh at himself , since had he become so mature in his outlook ? He was merely a couple of years older and here he was acting as if he were the boy's elder.
He shook his head imperceptibly shaking off the stray thoughts that had ensnared him moments prior.
"Bring something belonging to the captured.It would be impossible to trace the orcs' lair without any clue of some kind ."
The boy nodded in understanding and reached for the inside of his clothing before pulling back a thin and long string
"This was my sisters..", he whispered solemnly,"From what she was wearing the night that she was taken .It has her scent still .The dogs confirmed it.I think it would be of use to you in your search."
Brenn said nothing.
He took the string in his hand , gently caressing it marvelling at the sight in front of him.
The red string lying there securely in his palms shone brightly as it always had.
It was beckoning him to it irresistibly whispering promises into his ear .
He had to admit their lure was tempting.
Tempting to a broken man like him.
The bait of a possibility to change fate was pretty delicious and foolish as he was he was going to a big ,big bite.