The Worth of a Soul

Storied Beginings

Terrikar had been stuck in this damnable inn for too long. His very bones itched with the need to move. He had begun to grow close to the people here. The Aybarre twins with their incessant joking; Mathis, with that small smile on his face at all times, as if he had a happy secret known only to him; even Jordis, the portly merchant who ranted and raved about every bit of news that came through this town, had his redeeming qualities. Terrikar hated this feeling, this...sense of home. It only ever invited trouble into his life. It seemed the time to leave had finally arrived. Terrikar stood up from his chair in the inn and headed for his rooms to make preperations for the journey ahead.

***

Belia sighed, her mind wandering as she hung clothes up to dry. Maybe Terrikar will finally break his silence and tell me another story today. She hadn't heard a single tale from the mercenary in three days. It was begining to aggravate her. Maybe he was growing bored with this place. Belia couldn't blame him. She had spent her whole childhood wishing to be away from here, in a land more exciting than this one.

It was only a matter of time before her father deemed his wound completely healed, and Terrikar would be free to leave and continue his grand adventures out in the world. Without her. The thought made her particularly sad. In the few months that Terrikar had been here in Nilmdale, Belia had come to view him as an uncle of sorts, someone she could rely on to make the day a bit more interesting than before.

The final piece of clothing, her father's surgeon apron, was finally hung up on the line. Belia took the empty wicker baskets into the house and pestered her mother for a chance to see Terrikar before the day slipped away. After a few moments of debating, Belia skipped down the street with a satisfied smile on her face, only owning her mother a favor to be named later.

***

Belia left the Horsehair Hearth in a huff. Terrikar was holed up in his room, not unlocking the door for anyone, even her! Everyone who had been there when he walked up to his room had sensed a severe shift in the man. As if he remembered a duty that would take him far away from the little village. If Terrikar wouldn't even come to say goodbye before he went gallivanting off into the wide world without her, then she had no need of his idiotic stories.

Belia stopped in the doorway to her home, thinking. Still, it has been absolutely exciting since he's been here. Perhaps...I should see him off in the morning? Then another thought occurred to her: maybe she could go with him? See the world and have her own adventure. Terrikar was able to convince her father to help him. Maybe...he could convince him to take Belia with him, if only for a little while.

No. That seemed far too preposterous. Belia sighed as she went to her room to ready herself for bed. She supposed that seeing her one chance for adventure run off in the morning would have to suffice. Sliding into the creaky bed, Belia cradled her small journal, running her fingers over it's scarred surface. Soon, sleep took her.

***

For the first time since Terrikar had arrived, Belia woke in the middle of the night. This time though, there was an immediate explanation. Carnage was rampant outside her home. The screams of her fellow townsmen and the smell of fire and smoke wafted through her window. Belia gasped, holding her journal to her chest and using her other hand to keep her from falling off the bed in a panic.

Her door was barely clinging to the wall. Terrikar stood in the doorway, his hood pulled over his head. Belia nearly screamed at the sight. Terrikar looked the very definition of fierce. His cloak flowed behind him, as if constantly tossed about by the chaos of the moment. His armor was singed in places, with dust and grime covering the metallic sections. His sword was unsheathed, gleaming in the light of the fires and spattered with fluid of some sort.