Crumbled

The Fall of Tisha

Walz hadn't planned to burn down a forest, at least, not today. He sat up, his hair smoking, and his face burning with shame, or from the flames. He couldn't tell.

        Walz couldn't help but feel miniscule in comparison to the willowy trees that surrounded him. It was an unusual feeling, since he was not short in stature. It was a feeling usually reserved for when he was around Bramstone, who was extremely tall.

Speaking of Bramstone, Walz's friend was nowhere to be seen, which was typical. He usually ran as soon as danger peeked over the horizon.

Walz sighed, picking himself up off of the ground. His bag lay singed a few
feet away, and his sword was stuck hilt-first into the crumbling trunk of a tree. Walz rolled his eyes.

Typical Bramstone, ruining Walz's posessions for fun, or giving Walz an unneeded challenge in the very least.
Walz touched the sword lightly with his index finger, and immediately got burnt. He pulled his hand back sharply, and stuck his finger into his mouth, attempting to soothe the burn.

He heard a snigger above him, and craned his neck. Above him, draped dramatically over a charred limb, was Bramstone, cackling. Walz rolled his eyes. The boy in the tree rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand, and fell back into laughter.

Walz sulked on the ground, thinking of ways to extract his weapon from the depths of the tree.
He could not. Sneering, Walz threw back his head and yelled up to Bram.

"Hey Magic boy! Think you could get my sword unstuck? I need it!"

Bramstone was silent, which was unhelpful. Walz pulled off his cloak, and wrapped it around his hand; a futile attempt to shield it from the heat. He tugged at the hilt with all his might, but to no avail.

"Just pull it out, you great bufoon, it's not melded to the tree!" Bramstone said, dropping onto the ground next to Walz, who immediatley punched him in the stomach.

"That's for being an absolute idiot. You can tell the king why you're doubled over in pain" he quipped. Bramstone groaned, clutching his stomach.

"Look, just because I was assigned to assasinate you, doesn't mean I want to! My father wants all spies to be terminated, and it was pure coincidence that I was assigned to kill you! I didn't even know who you were back then, I just wanted to get out of the castle. Now look what you've gone and done, I can't come home if I can't walk, Walz!"

Bramstone continued his rant, while Walz faced the tree once more, lips pursed. He probed the hilt gently, unsurprised that it was still sweltering.

        "Okay Bram, firstly you need to shut up," Walz said hotly. His friend closed his mouth.

"Did you charm this thing? It's burning me!" he asked, inspecting the blade. Bram shook his head, and opened his mouth.

"Look pretty boy, I put your sword in a tree as a joke, but I sure as heck didn't charm the damn thing! I barely know any magic. Been too busy tracking you halfway across the universe to do any studying!" Bramstone exploded, threading his hands in his hair.

"Oh, and I don't know, maybe your sword is hot because the tree it's in was on fire!" He continued, scraping his hair over his forehead. Walz stood, mouth agape, and watched Bramstone become more unhinged.

"Did you ever stop to think, for one moment, that maybe I wanted to complete my quest? All my life, I've been a dissapointment, a younger sibling, the weaker one, the one who was never good with studies! I'm trying to prove to anyone that I'm worth something! And then you come along, bombarding my home, and blowing up my bedroom, and telling me that I'm the one who's wrong! Walz, you convinced me to commit crimes against my people, my home! I..." Bramstone trailed off, cheeks flushed.

"Well, that was a lovely monologue, but I'm going to have to cut you off right there," A figure materialized from behind a tree.

Walz's stomach dropped through the forest floor. It was Kei, commander of the Harrowers. That unfortunatley meant that he was technically Bramstone's boss.