A Warrior through and through

Broken.

Clementine told Dara what she told me, not leaving out any detail. When she finished, he shook his head gravely.

"This is dire indeed. How could he have possibly beaten death? I cannot feel his presence at all. Hmm.." Dara said as he thoughtfully run his hand through his beard. Suddenly, I feel a shift in the air. It was slight, but not too soft to go unnoticed. It was as if someone slowly passed right by me. Instinctively, I reached for her word and faced the direction the air was shifting too.

"What is it?" Clementine asked, noticing the change in my posture.

"Boy! What did I tell you about not eavesdropping on private conversations?" Dara said while facing the same direction as I was. The air around the space about one foot away from me rippled, like a mirage in the desert. The figure of a young male formed slowly like matter was coming together to form him.

He was quite tall and extremely skinny. His skin, however, was tanned, suggesting many days spent out in the open. He wore farmers garb three or four sizes too big for him. His face was all angles and edges, his skin pulled tight over his jaw and forehead. His amber eyes were big and full of expression. 

"I could not help myself! You don't get many visitors," the boy defended himself. He had an accent that suggested East mountains origin. Dara snorted, a sound that meant that he did not buy the explanation. 

"Go outside and take care of our guests mount," Dara ordered. The boy grinned. 

"Already taken care of. You can't chase me away that easily. Besides I've heard almost the whole thing," the boy responded with a rather smug look on his face. He turned to us and bowed his head slightly, a formal greeting in the east.

"My name is Everard. A pleasure to meet you two," he said. Clementine gave him her best smile, the one that made men stammer and colour up in embarrassment. 

"And where do you come from, Everard?" she asked looking straight into his eyes. To my amusement and her surprise, the boy gave her an even look with a crooked smile.

"The mountains in the east, a small village called daybreak m' lady," he replied.

"Enough of this. Why do you want to use the gates?" Dara interrupted, with an impatient tone in his voice.

"We need to send word to my wife. Then, we need to travel home to get my scythe," I answered. 

"Well, is it possible?" Dara asked Everard.

"I understand that your wife is in the deadlands. But where is your home?" Everard asked me.

"In the eastern part of devils passway," I answered, puzzled as to why he was asking that question. He looked down, lost in thought.

"It's a long story," Dara said, catching the expression on my face.

"We might have a problem," Everard said after a short while.

"A big one,"