Shadows Bleed

XXVII

XXVII

We made camp that night half a kilometre down the river that broke from the cove. A small cave carved into the shoreline offered ideal shelter. The distant screeching of the maevraas still reached our ears and, despite my insistence that the creatures had a terrible sense of sight, the men neglected to light a fire so we sat quietly in the dark.

There was a sparse amount of food stored in the skiff; a small package of preserved meat and stale bread along with a pouch of herbs. But, it proved enough to go around and put a little bit of something into all of our bellies as we lay on the sand, gazing at the stars above.

We didn't speak, we did not converse; somehow it just would have felt wrong, for what could we talk about that would not be deemed unimportant in the face of those we had lost today and none of us wished to talk of death.

Maybe it had to do with the Fell-Lands, the loathsome wastelands in which we now found ourselves. Well, that wasn't entirely fair. We, or rather I, had chosen this destination and, now we were here, I wished so desperately that I hadn't, that I had instead decided to take my chances in the Imperium. I thought I would be prepared to face the Fell, I thought I remembered it so as to not be caught off-guard. How wrong I proved to be. Years away had let the true stench of this land to slip from my mind.

I tried to keep thoughts of Danyael, of Celeste and Yennyfer, out of my mind, for they only led to regret and sorrow. No matter what I told myself, I could not deny the fact that I had failed Robert in letting his son die, that I failed Lord Vaskarth by not protecting his daughter.

Pushing out the negative thoughts only led to more and it struck me I may not have been an entirely optimistic person. I wondered after my mother and sister, how they fared, simply longing to be reunited with them.

"D'ya reckon we can light a fire?" Orepk asked beside me, breaking me from my plaintive reverie. "It's cold as bloody Gae'henar out here."

"Don't be a fool," Bluepin started but I raised my hand, cutting him off.

"It's fine. Keep it small and don't light it in the open; take it into the shelter," I instructed, pointing towards the cave behind us.

"Thanks chief," he said with a smile and went about his new assignment with cheerful diligence. The fire, it seemed, was merely a means to an end, a distraction to keep his mind off of what he had seen this day. Who could fault him?

Orepk took his sweet time doing so but, once the fire was lit, Bluepin and I moved ourselves from the beach and into the shallow cave to reap the benefits of his hard work. Cross-legged, I sat across the fire from the two men, wanting to be alone more than anything.

Yet, in spite of my earnest desire, the others felt differently. After hours of being confined to their thoughts, they seemed ready to share in some conversation and I was, reluctantly, roped into it.

"I think, once we return to the Imperium, I'll fetch a ride to Arulen and start a new life there," Bluepin said in response to Orepk's question. "I'm tired and old. Who knows, maybe I'll become a farmer."

The quip evoked a hearty laugh from the two men. There was an inside joke here. As I listened to Orepk tell of what he'd like to do with his future, I steadily grew more and more agitated.

"I'd love to start a brewery," he said hopefully. "Make the greatest ale the world has ever tasted."

"Aiming low huh?" Bluepin chortled.

"Hey, y'never know," Orepk retorted, chuckling as well. I suppose it was good to see them smiling, even if it was nothing but a mask for their pain. "I'd like to set up in Aovir. Sure there's restrictions and higher taxes but I'll be damned if they've not got the best damn malt in all of Üarye."