"I think you should go see the leader," said Karaia. "He might even give you another rune to work with. Even if he doesn't im sure he'll be glad to see you're not hurt." She smiled and took some plates to wash.
Morden was going to go for sure but he wasn't sure when to do it. Most likely later that day or tomorrow morning. Either way he's going to make sure that the rest of the Dismantlers weren't going to show him up. He completed his task in a timely manner and even defeated an incredibly strong creature. Some of the other veterans will surely at least acknowledge his feat. But that was for a later time.
"I'm going to go train with Thesia today," said Broffe. "She said she was going to show me how to spot a shape-shifter as well as how to fight one. I heard they were slimey and translucent," he said while lifting his shoulders and his hands in the air while waiving his fingers like some kind of budget magician. Morden let out a chuckle and stood up.
It was already nearing noon, so Morden decided to go talk with the rest of the colony and see if anything changed or came up that needed his attention. His first stop was his lover, Hilda. He walked to the entrance of the tent after stating his intentions. Karaia rolled her eyes and said, "You've been trying to be a father with her for years already. She's as fertile as a rock. Find a new girl maybe your luck will be better."
"I'm gonna stick with her as long as you keep teasing me about it, Karaia. At least I found someone who doesn't try to come with me on every single mission like you." Morden snorted teasingly.
Karaia rubbed her temples as she thought of the last guy she was with. Every time she was going away, he swore he would come along and protect her, but he wasn't trained as a Dismantler and would only be a burden. She also left him because she wasn't getting pregnant with him. It was usually luck and gene compatibility that helped someone become a parent. It was never guaranteed, so most people had several partners to try to help keep the population up and settling down with one partner was usually something that happened near the end of one's life. Even if a person settled down early, the relationships tended to be open as to keep the population high. The survival of the species became a center of the culture.
Morden waved the two off and stepped outside. The smell of smoke was faint and a small group of kids ran up to him.
"Welcome back, dad!" One of the girls shouted as she jumped up and latched onto Morden. She wore loose leather pants and a blouse, a signature uniform of a practicing Dismantler. He laughed and pushed her off gently and said, "I'm not your dad, Allel so why would I want to talk to you at all? Go bother someone else with your affection. At least try to ambush me next time." He turned around and started walking away but Allel jumped onto his neck from behind and giggled. "GOTCHA! You're so mean! I think that's why you're so lonely all the time."
"I'll show you mean!" Morden replied as he pulled her over his head and held her upside down in front of him by the waist. She just stared at him blank faced and dumbfounded. He pretended to drop her and caught her feet, flipping her forward and she landed on her feet. The other kids in the group gasped and some laughed as they ran off.
Allel looked over at him and said, "Tell me all about your adventure later! After all I'll be the one taking over for you once you're an old man," she hunched over and pretended her back hurt. Morden quickly grabbed a small pebble and pelted her lightly as she ran away laughing.
The whole colony was one big family and everyone looked out for each other. Nobody was a stranger. They stuck together and nobody was left behind in any scenario ever.
He walked over to the local traders. While everyone else was out foraging, hunting, and improving various aspects of the colony, some residents went to the local villages and cities and purchased goods and trinkets that everyone could use. They were as necessary to the colony as everyone else. Since the colony moved so much there were no blacksmiths or vegetable farmers so some resources needed to be purchased rather than produced. The colony stayed in one location for no more than three months at a time.
"Hey there, pretty lady," Morden said with his flirty voice. "I heard you might have some goods I want."
"That depends," the lady behind the rug said. She was about 20 years of age with dimples and round cheeks. Her blonde hair was shoulder length and accented her blue eyes. She was 5'4 and quite well built. "Are you looking for something for work or personal pleasure?" She grinned at him and gave a flirty look.
Morden walked over to her and they embraced in a kiss. "It's been too long, Hilda. I missed you a lot."
"Likewise... Don't leave for so long next time, or at least bring me back a gift if you must go." She looked into his eyes like she hadn't seen him in a year. Morden pulled out a small necklace from his pocket and handed it to her. It had a small blue gem on it and was placed in silver. Small, but very elegant. She grabbed it and eyed it for a good minute, admiring the handiwork.
"Did you buy this?! It must have cost you at least 200 Soma!" She realized how precious the object in her hand was and objected profusely.
"Don't worry, I happened to find it during my latest adventure. It didn't cost me a thing, but it reminded me of your eyes so I had to buy it." Morden went behind her and she lifted her hair. He put the necklace on her and she spun around.
"How does it look?" Hilda asked with sincerity.
"It's the second most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Morden said. Hilda smiled ear to ear and gave him a kiss on the cheek. It was the perfect gift after being away and almost dying again. But next time he would have to find something even better and that was hard to top.
He exchanged small talk with Hilda and left saying that he would see her later that night. She blushed and went back to selling her wares while pretending to ignore what he just said. Morden walked up the small hill past several tents. The colony consisted of close to 500 people and the colony leader was always in the center. Morden walked into the larger than average tent and sat down in the empty room full of pillows and decorations and sat down on one of the pillows in the middle. Across from him was the leader, a man in his 50s with black hair with streaks of gray. He had many scars on his face and all over his body recalling years of battle and experience, truly a worthy leader. Half his body was covered in angel runes signifying his status as leader and his personal battle prowess.
"Welcome back, son. How did the hunt go?" The leader said. After bowing his head, Morden replied, "It went well, Leader Mathar, but I was forced to use one of my angel runes. The culprit was a draugr and a powerful one at that. Luckily I found another one to replace it so I'm still at three."
Mathar thought deeply for a few seconds then said, "That's good. At least you returned alive. Was there anything you could have done better? Anything you learned from this hunt?"
"That draugr are very distracted by what they crave the most. I was able to distract it long enough to catch it off guard by throwing an apple to the side. I swear I saw him drooling then I broke his shin forcing him to the ground. He was easy to take care of after that."
Mathar sat on his pile of pillows and continued to ponder Morden's words. After a few moments he called his assistant over. Mathar whispered in his ear and the assistant rushed away hurriedly. Mathar stood up and beckoned Morden to follow. Mathar walked over and put his arm around Morden and said, "It's been five years since I last trained you and here you are, in the world, killing draugr. We need good men like you who are willing to put themselves in between evil and the innocent. Good job, you will be rewarded accordingly."
As he finished speaking, the assistant came in with a small box and brought it before the two. Mathar opened the box and pulled out what looked like a rock with some carvings on it. It didn't look all that special; like someone picked up a rock and carved some patterns into it with a knife. As Mathar held it, a slight tremble was felt in the stone. He held it to Morden's arm and chanted for about a minute. After the chant was over, the carvings in the rock started to glow a faint purple. The carvings looked as though some form of translucent liquid was coursing through them. They called this the lifeblood of a rune. If the rune did not exhibit this behavior, they were either already absorbed of its power or not angel runes.
A tingling sensation filled Morden's arm and the light flowed onto his arm. It felt like many feathers rubbing gently across his skin. Morden took a deep breath and could feel the effects of the rune entering his body. Immediately he knew that it's effect was equivalent to enhanced sense. He would be able to process information much faster than normal people would for a period of time. he looked onto his left arm and noticed that there was a new mark there. It looked vaguely like a bird, but like it wasn't intentional. No marking was like another so there was no way of knowing who had what tricks up their sleeve.
After the chant was over, Mathar looked at him with a big smile, grabbed both his shoulders and said, "Congratulations on four! Let's hope you can keep it this time." He gave Morden a pat on the shoulders and left outside. He beckoned for Morden to follow.
They walked along the colony outskirts and talked for a while. They reminisced on the days when Mathar trained Morden. The countless beatings, the ruthless practice sessions where they would leave small patches of field destroyed. Suddenly, Mathar stopped and looked over at Morden with a worried expression. He sighed and said," I have a bad feeling, Morden. I've never been wrong about my gut feeling and something isn't right. I've walked the perimeter several times over the weeks and I know something is out of place. I can't put my finger on it, and I don't think I can see it, but its as if something is disturbing the surrounding air, waiting for the right moment to strike."
Morden looked around tensely and said, "What should we do about it? What can I do? Anything for the survival of the colony, Leader."
"There's nothing right now. Go hunt, bring home food for the colony. May Meer bring us the bounty that we need to survive this cruel world."
Morden saluted by putting his fist to the center of his chest. "I will do as the Leader says." He turned around and left for home immediately. As he walked through the tent, Morden called for his sister and explained that he was going hunting. Karaia decided that she was going to join as she wasn't going to let her brother leave alone as soon as he arrived back home. Broffe was away training so he wasn't around to join them.
They both grabbed some food and water and headed out to the forest right next to the colony. He had hunted dozens of times before, and humans simply overpowered their prey with their hands so there was no need to bring weapons. As they set up their post next to a desire path they had found and decided to rest for a little bit. The sun was starting to set so they decided to take it easy. However, safe was better than sorry, so Morden decided to check the surroundings. while doing a quick search, he noticed something odd on the trail. it looked like a carved stone that had been buried for years.