Brotherband Chronicles: Lydia's Past

Chapter 10: The world fell apart (unedited)

'So,' Stefan began. 'how do we find this miraculous Malcolm?'

It was nightfall and the camp was ready. Their tent was built and they even had a protective fence around it. The boys were restless again, now that they had nothing to do and were eagerly waiting for Hal to share his plan with them. Unfortunately, Hal had not figured the details out yet. Because of that, he was not ready to share his thoughts so far, he had failed the details once to many. He still cringed thinking about his mother's kitchen floor, that one day was 'destroyed' as his mother would still describe it. Stig came up to him and put his hand on his friend's shoulder. Hal took a deep breath. No, he had waited long enough not telling anyone. However, he wasn't ready yet to share it with his whole crew. Hal stood up from his place around the campfire and looked at Stig.

'A word, Stig?' He asked his first mate. Hal turned and shared a look with Thorn. 'You too, Thorn.'

The rest of the crew stared at their skirl, but did not disagree with him. Hal was their skirl and it was up to them to trust and obey him. Above all, he was their friend and if they knew one thing for sure, than it was that Hal always came up with a solution. All right, they all wished Hal would reveal his plan soon, but until then, they would wait.

The three of them walked towards the place where the fence ended and the treeline began. The herons had scouted the area and were almost certain there were no other people, but being the good-trained warriors they are, they were on their guard. Stig turned towards his skirl and waited for Hal to say something. When he figured Hal was in his own world again, he cleared his throat to draw his friend's attention and saw how Hal came back from his world of thoughts. He looked troublesome.

'Remember the stories of Gundar?' Hal started.

Thorn made a sound that was closest to a loud snore. 'Honestly, who doesn't? Gorlog's beard, if you haven't you've never been to Skandia before.' Hal stared back blankly and Thorn quickly followed Lydia's holy advice, he shut up. Stig hid his laugh, but didn't comment.

'As I was saying,' Hal glared at Thorn suspiciously, waiting for an interruption, but when Thorn stared back innocently, he continued: 'Gundar had told a lot of stories about his time here, at Norgate Fief. One aspect that always comes back is how he was found here.'

Thorn and Stig nodded. Of course, they knew, all Skandians had heard the tale of Gundar and his crew being found by the Ranger, who later was honoured by his name being a part of Gundar's ship. Thorn frowned.

'Are you saying we should wait for a Ranger to magically appear and save us? Bringing us to Malcolm the healer and still be on time to heal Lydia?'

Thorn was hoping his young friend had come up with a better plan than that. Luckily for him, Hal immediately started shaking his head. Stig sighed in relief; apparently Thorn wasn't the only one fearing that plan.

'No, of course not. I have a plan, but it might be...' Hal stopped, unsure of himself all of a sudden. Maybe it would have been better if he had figured the details out on his own. Not embarrass himself in front of his friends.

Thorn took a step and placed his hand on Hal's shoulder, as Stig had done minutes before. 'Don't shut us out. We can help. We're not here to make fun of you, remember that.'

Stig nodded in unison. This was a matter of life or death and the last thing they needed, was for Hal to doubt himself. Hal took a deep breath, but before he could say a word, the three of them heard Ulf yelling something. On the other hand, it could also be Wulf. They glared at one another. They knew this could not be good. Together they ran back towards the crew and saw raw fear in their eyes.

'What is going on?' Thorn asked, when he saw Edvin staring at Lydia. He was in a state of shock.

'Edvin?' Hal demanded. He felt his heart sink and when Edvin finally looked him in the eye, Hal sank to his knees.

'She has stopped breathing.' And the world fell apart.