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Chapter 56
Disparity of the Soul
“Where did they go?” Tanlor asked with a sigh.
“Cedar’s I think, down near the docks,” Shelly replied, hefting a sack of vegetables onto her bar to inspect.
“How much have they drunk today?” Tanlor continued.
“I wouldn’t serve ‘em,” she said sharply, “not after the trouble last night.”
“Thank you,” Tanlor nodded to her.
“Wasn’t for your benefit,” she sneered, “your mate might have some coin on him but he had half the bloody bar dancing on the tables last night. I don’t mind if folk have a few drinks with their dinner but this ain’t the place for that kind of carry on, y’hear?”
“I’m sorry,” he inclined his head, “truly. We’ll be out of your hair today. Blizzard’s finally clearing up.”
“If you want to be headin’ today I’d get after ‘em quick. I wouldn’t wouldn’t trust Ardy with a drink in him on the sheet no more’n I’d trust a wolf in with the chickens.”
“Aye, thanks. Which one is Cedar’s?”
“The one with the badly painted tree over the door.”
Tanlor nodded his thanks and slung his and Daegan’s rucksacks onto his back. He’d traded their saddlebags for them the day before and had spent the morning sorting and packing for the trip north. He didn’t feel bad about going through Daegan’s saddlebag and packing for him. The man had spent over a week doing nothing but drinking, smoking and gambling with that wretched Aeth man.
To his surprise, Daegan didn’t have nearly as many useless belongings with him as he’d suspected. Other than the supplies they’d collected along the way, the man had only hung onto the finer clothes that Tanlor and Rowan had made him replace before Crossroads along with a few journals, parchment and pens. Tanlor packed the fine clothes into another bag, along with some of his own belongings that they wouldn’t need up past the sheet. For a few coppers, Shelly would hang on to this one for a few months if needed. Hopefully it wouldn’t be that long before they came back this way. He’d contemplated leaving Daegan’s journals as well but then decided against it. Best not to push him too much, the man was already being testy with Tanlor after his outburst in the yard.
In his mind, Tanlor had assumed they would spend the season—at most—at Shrydan forest. He resisted the urge to pull out the signal stone that the Archduke had given him to check its colour. Every evening before going to sleep, he would reach into the pocket in his cloak where he kept it and each night the stone appeared as it always had—like smooth jade with no light emitting from it. The Archduke had offered no timeline but surely with the rumours of Daegan’s death propagating throughout the country, he would recall them soon. He wouldn’t want to deal with the fallout with Reldon for having a dead Prince on his hands. The Archduke would need to have Daegan back in Rubastre soon enough… surely.
For Tanlor, that couldn’t come soon enough. It had been almost a month since he’d last seen Danielle. In the chaos of fleeing the city, he’d quickly penned a letter for her and left it with Keltin to give to her. He would have preferred to see her himself before departing but there simply hadn’t been time. Fearing that Keltin would read the letter, he’d been careful to leave out any specifics for the mission in it, the words he’d hastily scrawled were still clear in his mind.
My apologies, my love. I must leave the city tonight on an imperative mission for the Archduke. I am unsure when I will be back however the Archduke has promised that he will bid your father for his approval of our marriage upon my return.
Please know that everything I do, I do for us… I love you.
Sincerely,
Tan
Tanlor, once again, chastised himself for the abrupt wording. He’d been in such a hurry that he hadn’t taken the care and approach he’d normally take when writing her a letter. He didn’t have any concerns over her love for him. She’d proven that time and time again over their years together. She’d waited patiently for him as he’d fought skirmishes in the Balfold, taken contracts in the Iron Hills and while working his way up the ranks of the Archduke’s guard.
The problem was her father. Duke Harfallow knew nothing of their relationship and would likely not react kindly if he discovered it. He was also heavily lobbying potential courters for her and becoming increasingly persistent that she must choose a husband. I just need to keep Daegan safe for a few more weeks. And then he could return to her. A few more weeks and he’d have everything he’d worked so hard for.
He strode out of the inn, his and Daegan’s rucksacks over his shoulder. The tail ends of the blizzard swept at him, light snow fluttering at his face. Ankle-deep snow covered the streets. No one had cleared the streets yet—if they ever would—so walkways of compacted snow were forming as people resumed their daily activities.
He hurried towards the dock, praying that Daegan and Ardy hadn’t decided to start the morning with that foul blue decoction that the Aeth man preferred. It had been years since Tanlor had drank a drop of alcohol. The squad he’d been part of with Rowan during their time in the Balfold had been the only stretch of his life he’d drank regularly. He almost gagged thinking of the mornings when Rowan had convinced him to take a glass of whitewhiskey after long nights of drinking. He used to have one of his sayings about it. Something about dog hairs or dragon scales or some shit. It was clever—whatever it was—but it hadn’t stopped Tanlor from vomiting the moment the drink touched the back of his throat.
He stepped out onto the main street that led down to the dock. Some of the smaller side-streets led the same direction. It was the only part of the town where the buildings clustered together and wooden shacks were wedged in the spaces between them, making narrow alleyways. He spotted two figures ahead through the light snow. They were ambling slowly down the street and Rowan recognised the Prince’s gait. He had a highborn’s bearing that was easily recognisable among the beaten down postures of the locals.
He jogged to catch up to the pair. The tin pots attached to his rucksack rattled and his boots made heavy prints in the snow. Daegan looked behind at the sound of his approach, the glower he gave Tanlor made him wince internally. The man was still yet to forgive him. It was rare that Tanlor let his temper loose like that, and it had been years since he’d been foolish enough to do so at another highborn. Tanlor might be a cousin to the Duke Garron but his father’s blood still pushed him to the bottom rungs of the hierarchy and that meant he needed to have a firm hold on his tongue.
Tanlor inclined his head to Daegan, and then looked to the Aeth. “The blizzard’s passed. We leave today,” Tanlor stated.
“You can try to make the journey on foot if you want,” Ardy scoffed, “some fools try it every few months. But me and Dessie are heading to Cedar’s for the day. Hear he’s got a half decent lute player up from Heronsbridge for the night.” Another night of debauchery. Tanlor couldn’t stand to watch the pair spend another day drinking and wasting gold in a tavern, and then shambling into the vicedens for the evening for more.
“No,” Tanlor said, firmly, “you’re taking us today.”
“Tanlor, listen—” Daegan began but Tanlor cut him off before the man could dismiss him.
“—I’ve packed your bag,” Tanlor said, turning to show him the rucksacks, “I’ve left most of your clothes with Shelly but I’ve packed here everything you need for the journey.”
“You went through my things?” Daegan growled at him. Oh spare me.
“I’m hardly going to rob you,” Tanlor retorted.
“I’ve had enough Tanlor,” Daegan sighed, “it’s time to end this charade.”
“We have to cross the shee—”
“No,” Daegan replied with severity, “we don’t! Go back to Rubastre, I don’t need you. I’ll make my own way to Garron and head home from there.”
“You can’t be serious?!” Tanlor shot at him, incredulous. What is he thinking? “Is this all because of the day in the yard? I apologised for that.” Daegan’s eyes flashed with anger. No, he hadn’t forgiven him yet.
“I should have done this weeks ago,” Daegan replied, rubbing furiously at his throat, “there is absolutely no reason for me to be going north. I should be going home! I don’t belong here.”
No, no, NO! Tanlor felt his heart beating with rage. He wasn’t about to let his one opportunity to marry Danielle ride off to his death.
“I’m not letting you,” Tanlor said through gritted teeth, he felt the heat of his anger begin to rise in his shoulders.
“What are you going to do?” Daegan’s brow furrowed, “can hardly force me.”
“You are going north, even if I have to drag you kicking and screaming the whole way.” He could recognise his fury growing. Don’t get angry with him. He thought, his arms tensing. He reached his edir to his topaz to dispel the rising heat from him. A trick he’d been taught years ago to help control his anger. To his surprise, Daegan stepped forward and shoved him.
“I,” Daegan said with a raised finger, “am not going!”
Tanlor forced more of the heat of his anger into his topaz. His edir rushed his topaz like a fire towards kindling. He took a calming breath, steadying himself. Then his eyes widened as he felt another edir wash over him. He could feel its presence behind him and recognised it instantly. He dived toward Daegan and tackled him to the ground. The two men falling to the snow. He felt the whoosh of a projectile passing just above his head.
“Get off!” Daegan shouted but Tanlor ignored him, looking back the way he’d come.
A figure stood in the middle of the street. A long curved blade drawn in his hand. Ferath! He couldn’t make any details of the man’s face but he knew with certainty it was him.
“He’s here,” Tanlor growled and pulled Daegan to his feet.
Ferath was sprinting towards them, fragments of rock appeared in the air around him. The bits of rock swirled and coalesced, forming a length of rock the size of a spear. Tanlor drew his own sword from its sheath. The rock spear flew towards him, it moved slower than an arrow shaft and Tanlor managed to deflect it. He’d spent years training honing his reflexes to such precision. The rock spear crumbled as Tanlor’s massive blade knocked it aside.
His edir still burned and he was unconsciously still feeding all of his excess heat into the topaz. He reversed it, drawing heat as quickly as he could without burning himself. He glanced up at the snow covered rooftops and reached out with his edir, pushing the heat into it. A wall of slushy snow tumbled from the roof of the building. Tanlor wasn’t certain if he’d timed it right to fall on top of Ferath but at worst, it would bar his path for a few moments.
He grabbed Daegan’s arm and darted for a nearby alley. Ardy followed them, screeching like a moron.
“Ardy, is the ice raft prepped to leave?” Tanlor said, glancing over his shoulder as he ran.
“W-w-what the fuck was that?” Ardy replied.
“Ardy! The iceraft!”
“What trouble are you—”
“—Is it ready to go?!” Tanlor roared at him, letting go of Daegan’s arm and grabbing Ardy by the shoulders. They were at the end of the alley, leading out onto a parallel street.
“U-ugh, y-yes,” Ardy stammered, “repairs we finished days ago n’ I—”.
“—You have your pistol?” Tanlor turned back to Daegan, dismissing Ardy.
“Yes,” Daegan replied and drew it from his cloak.
“Good.”
“Tanlor, I won’t ask you to—” Daegan began.
“—stop that,” Tanlor cut him off, “I’m not going to abandon you to him.” This is not the time for some foolish heroics.
Ferath appeared at the mouth of the alley—soaking wet—his blade raised. The sounds of people screaming echoed in the street as townsfolk fled the commotion. Tanlor raised his own greatsword.
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“Go,” Tanlor told them, his eyes not leaving Ferath’s, “I’ll meet you at the docks.” Tanlor heard Daegan draw his own sword next to him. Tanlor glanced at him, he held the sword in his offhand, his main hand levelling the revolver at Ferath. That’s why he insisted on training with his off-hand so much. Handguns were such a new invention in warfare that Tanlor hadn’t even considered people would be attempting to incorporate their use into a fighting style.
Tanlor expected Daegan to attempt to talk with Ferath, to warn the man not to come any closer or to demand answers for why he was relentlessly hunting Daegan. But to Tanlor’s astonishment, Daegan opened fire without any preamble, firing off two shots that blasted through the alleyway. The wall of stone that appeared in front of Ferath was instantaneous. He’s not going to make the same mistake twice. Ferath had fallen victim to the speed of the revolver’s bullets before. The wall of earth appeared in the blink of an eye, and was immediately followed by another spear of rock that suddenly formed in the air and was sent hurling towards them. Again, Tanlor deflected it with his sword, knocking it towards the wall of the building where it smashed apart.
Faced against a master stonebreaker that could conjure and fire projectiles it made tactical sense to remain in the alley. The stonebreaker would be forced to work within the confines of the passage and limit the possibility of firing a projectile at Tanlor’s flank but Ferath was no ordinary stonebreaker. Their best hope was to lure him out onto the ice sheet where Tanlor’s topaz-wielding ability would be superior.
“To the dock,” Tanlor pushed Daegan and Ardy ahead of him. The three of them raced down the street in the direction of the docks. After a few moments of running a voice boomed from behind them.
“Daegan!” Ferath roared, “you know this is foolish. You cannot outrun me!” Daegan responded by turning over his shoulder and firing another shot of his revolver. Good man. Tanlor had to admit he was impressed by Daegan’s calm resolve. Again, a wall of stone appeared in front of Ferath, the bullet biting a chunk of it off. Daegan didn’t falter and was already sprinting ahead, Ardy was furthest down the street, the Aeth man moving with far more speed than Tanlor would have assumed the decrepit drunk could muster. Tanlor was at the rear, moving slower with the two rucksacks and also wanting to remain as the first line of defence between Daegan and Ferath.
Tanlor was pleased with Daegan’s level-headed demeanour. The first time they’d faced Ferath, he’d been a shrieking, useless mess. He was like a different man now and Tanlor didn’t feel the fight would be completely reliant on Tanlor’s skill.
He felt an edir slam against him. He shot a glance back at Ferath who had dismissed his protective wall in a cloud of dust and was barreling after them. It was his edir! He’s at least twenty yards behind us!
Tanlor felt the snow at his feet rumble. He immediately recognised the trick that stonebreaker’s often used to knock their opponents off balance by dissolving some of the earth at their feet. He leapt to his right before the place where he’d been running collapsed in on itself, snow falling into the hole.
“Jump!” He shouted ahead at Daegan but he was too late, the prince staggered and stumbled into the snow. Tanlor swung around to see another projectile bounding towards Daegan. Tanlor leapt out and slammed down with his sword knocking it to the ground. Another came flying towards him and he dodged to the side, its trajectory was off for it to be a danger to Daegan so Tanlor let that one fly off towards the end of the street.
Ferath was quickly closing the distance towards them, sprinting down the middle of the street. Rooftop trick won’t work again. The snow on this street was packed hard on the ground and Tanlor reached out his edir as far he could towards the man and pushed out all the residual heat in topaz. A chill swept over him as most of his own body heat rushed out of him along with the runestone’s stored heat. A cloud of steam erupted between them, the snow rapidly melted and evaporated in fractions of a second as Tanlor fuelled heat into it.
Tanlor didn’t waste any time, rushing to Daegan and dragging the man to his feet. More projectiles of stone flew through the air. They were wildly off target as Ferath shot blind through the cloud of steam.
They were in sight of the docks, Tanlor could see that Ardy was already racing ahead of them and had reached the wooden jetty that jutted out into the ice. Tanlor and Daegan bolted after him. The snow rumbled again, this time Daegan rolled to the side alongside Tanlor. The rucksacks on Tanlor’s back rattled as they were flung about. He was satisfied that he’d opted for smaller ones in an anticipationof a scenario just like this. His balance was off though when he regained his feet, his leg muscles burning. He fuelled that heat back into his topaz, feeling a flush of cold over his legs. I’ll need that.
Another spear of rock crashed into the jetty ahead, obliterating a portion of it. Fortunately, it was further ahead from where Ardy was currently untying the rope of his iceraft. They were a few feet away from the wooden boardwalk of the jetty when once again the ground below grumbled. Tanlor shifted his weight, preparing to dodge to the side but instead of the ground below disappearing, it rose. Giant fragments of earth and rock burst up from the ground in front of them, and compacting together into a wall barring the path to the jetty. Shit.
Tanlor glanced to the sides of the wall where the snow covered ground gave way to the sleek ice of the Nortara Sheet. It was too risky slipping on the ice, Ferath would quickly finish them with one of his rock spears if they fell.
He turned about to face the street. Daegan was already levelling his revolver towards Ferath who was emerging from the steam cloud. Townsfolk were still screaming and fleeing the street from the commotion. Fistfights—and even the occasional knife fight—were not uncommon on the streets of Urundock but runewielders flinging around spears of rock likely was not an everyday occurrence. The ear-piercing cracks of Daegan’s gunshots added to the hysteria.
Ferath approached them cautiously now. His sword held in front of him. He’s not going to make the same mistakes as last time. Tanlor’s interference and the practicality of Daegan’s revolver had caught him unaware before. Ferath’s strategy was different this time, he’d attacked aggressively initially, attempting to dispatch them quickly from a distance but now that he was less than ten yards from them, it was clear this would come to a direct fight.
Tanlor’s heart raced. If only Daegan could runewield then he could get to work on dissolving the wall blocking the path to the jetty while Tanlor kept Ferath distracted. And Daegan couldn’t hold Ferath for the minutes that Tanlor would need to dissolve it himself. Stonebreaking was never his specialty so he’d need a while to clear it.
“I’m going to have to fight him,” Tanlor said to Daegan, dropping the rucksacks off his shoulders.
“I can help,” Daegan responded.
“Try to flank him,” Tanlor instructed Daegan, not taking his eyes off Ferath’s figure, “if you get a clean shot, take it.”
Amber light—like that of an eradite—began to emit from Ferath’s chest. What the fuck is he? The light crawled out from there into his hands. The ground trembled again and Tanlor and Daegan both dodged in different directions. A pair of rock spears hurdled towards each of them. Tanlor managed to deflect the one aimed at him but Daegan cried out as the sharpened rock caught him in the shoulder.
Tanlor darted towards Ferath. The man’s edir whipped about wildly, the strange amber light flaring. Tanlor noticed that the light seemed to follow his edir, like a trailing after-image of where it had been. What kind of runewielding is this?! He needed to separate Ferath from his eradite, it was the only way he could finish him. The light had emitted from the man''s chest initially so Tanlor guessed it was where Ferath kept his runestone.
As he approached, he saw Ferath’s maniacal face. It was twisted into a wolf’s snarl. His veins were dark and popping. His eyes glowing with a bright amber light. Tanlor dodged a rock spear, deflected another. Leapt as the earth shook below him again. Ferath seemed to have simple stonebreaker tricks, there was no finesse or skill to them, just raw power and reach.
He was just about in range and Ferath bounded forward, his sword arced overhead. Their blades clashed and the pair became embroiled in a series of parries and deflections. Ferath’s form was perfect, his precision was on point but his movements were slow and sluggish. He pressed aggressively at first, trying to dispose of Tanlor quickly. Tanlor back-stepped, parrying the attacks and looking for an opening. He noticed that Ferath''s movements were becoming quicker and the light was draining from his arms in conjunction. Runewielding makes him slow, Tanlor realised. How could he use that to his advantage?
Tanlor kept calm. All the adrenaline fuelled heat he dissipated into his topaz. He’d realised long ago that by doing that, he could fight longer. He didn’t grow flush or sweaty. His muscles would still tire but he could fight through exasperation before and could again. Ferath lunged in at him and Tanlor just about managed to deflect the curved blade, it brought them close together and Tanlor realised with horror that it had been a feint as light surged into Ferath’s chest.
The ground beneath him shook. He reacted quickly—but not quick enough—and the world spun as he fell into the ground. He jerked as cold snow constricted and compacted around him. He could feel Ferath attempting to reform the ground around him and pinch him in place but there was a cushion of snow preventing it. Tanlor was now in a hole and half buried to the waist in snow.
Tanlor looked up in panic as he saw Ferath bring his sword down. A blast sounded and Ferath staggered back, dropping his blade. Bless you, Daegan. Tanlor clawed and struggled out of the snow and kicked himself back. He’d dropped his sword but had time to retrieve it while Ferath recovered from the shock of being shot.
Ferath was in a kneeling position, light coalesced at the man’s torso. He’s focusing his edir there. Bright red blood dripped in the white snow below him. The man’s face was a mask of anger and determination but he made no move towards Tanlor. Could he be dissolving the bullet inside of him?
Another shot fired but this time Ferath was more prepared and his wall of rock formed around him, completely encapsulating the man this time. Tanlor couldn’t fathom the speed at which he did that. It was impossible, eradite simply didn’t work that quickly. I have to re-assess what is and isn’t possible with this man.
“Hey!” Tanlor’s head whipped about to the shout to see Ardy waving his arms from his iceraft. “Come on, let’s go!” Tanlor and Daegan shared a look and Daegan nodded in understanding. Both men sprinted back towards the dock.
There was still the wall of rock blocking the entrance of the jetty. It was about twice the height of a man but with Ferath trying to recover from his wound, they might have extra seconds to attempt to scale it. As they came upon it, Tanlor cupped his hands to give Daegan a boost over. Daegan’s boot landed in his hands and Tanlor pushed with force up from his legs, hoisting the man up.
As Daegan scrambled over, Tanlor tossed the two rucksacks over, glancing back to Ferath’s stone cocoon. He still hadn’t emerged from it. The bullet looked to have taken him in the chest, a shot to the chest would kill any man. There was the possibility that Ferath also had a bloodstone and was attempting to repair the damage himself. Once again, Tanlor found himself in awe of Ferath’s skill in runewielding. Is this the quality of all Reldoni soldiers? Perhaps Rubane should be concerned with Reldon’s mounting military prowess.
Tanlor looked up at the top of the wall. Daegan’s head and shoulders were poking out, his arm reaching down for Tanlor’s.
“Grab it,” Daegan said. Tanlor leapt up, grasped the Daegan’s wrist and felt the man’s hand clamp around his own wrist. Planting his feet against the rock, he stepped up, aided by Daegan pulling. Once cleared, both men charged along the wooden planks. Daegan slipped a few times on the ice and Tanlor steadied him with a firm grasp on his shoulder. Every few seconds Tanlor would shoot a look back to see if Ferath was pursuing them. The rock wall was blocking the path of vision so Tanlor couldn’t see if the man had emerged from his stone shell.
Ardy was pulling on a rope as they approached the iceraft.
“Quickly, quickly!” the Aeth man said, a frantic air about him, “Get in, tie yourselves to—” he cut off, a look of terror crossing his face. Tanlor’s head whipped back to see the rock wall vanishing in a cloud of dust and Ferath barreling towards them with two spears of rock forming at his sides.
“Take him across, I will follow,” Tanlor instructed Ardy.
“No,” Daegan cut across, “I can help.”
“Your safety is paramount,” Tanlor replied, tossing the rucksacks into the iceraft.
Tanlor assumed a defensive stance with his greatsword, preparing to deflect the rock spears. He didn’t want to move towards Ferath and expose the iceraft. As it was, if the man attempted to fire a projectile at the iceraft, Tanlor might just about be able to intercept it.
The iceraft was only slightly larger than a dinghy, with a mast that extended about fifteen feet. If Ferath targeted the mast, Tanlor likely wouldn’t be able to do anything to defend it. As Ferath approached, Tanlor could see amber light radiating from the man’s eyes. Parts of his skin looked to be made of stone. In truth, he looked more like a stone golem from the stories than a man. His face twisted in a pained expression and he charged towards them. As he neared, two of the stone spears were let loose; one directed towards Tanlor, the other angling more towards the iceraft itself. Ignoring the projectile coming for him, Tanlor performed a sweeping swing of his blade catching the one aimed at the iceraft. It connected and sent the spear of rock spiralling toward the ice. He felt a whoosh of air as the one aimed for him narrowly flew past his ear.
He felt a sharp, searing pain on his leg. He spun in response and saw the blur of Ferath moving past him, his blade slicing Tanlor’s thigh as he did so. Tanlor didn’t cry out, he was too much of a seasoned fighter for that, instead choosing to throw all of his weight against Ferath and tackling the man to the wooden boards of the jetty. The two of them fell in a heap. He felt Ferath’s hand grab at his face and force him on to his back. The man was incredibly strong and heavy. Tanlor felt his head being crushed against the wood, Ferath’s weight bearing down on him.
The physical touch was exactly what he needed. Tanlor tried to focus his edir, but Ferath slammed Tanlor’s head against the boardwalk. There was an overpowering ringing in his ears, he could barely make out Ferath’s frenzied snarl through the fingers that gripped at his face. He could feel the heat of Ferath’s hand… he just needed to pull on that heat. His topaz beckoned for the heat and Tanlor started to draw on it, pushing the heat into the topaz.
His head was smashed again. And his vision turned dark. He could still feel Ferath’s hand but his head was burning with the impact. He reached up, his own hand grappling at Ferath’s wrist, desperately trying to pry him off. Ferath’s grip was as firm as stone itself. He swung his other free hand in a punch at Ferath. He felt it connect against the man’s head but the man didn’t release his grip. Tanlor felt his head pulled forward again and he struggled, knowing that another slam was coming.
He braced for the impact but it didn’t come, a second passed and he was suddenly free, Ferath rolling off him. Dazed and disoriented, Tanlor tried to stagger to his feet. There was red in his vision. His head was bleeding. He felt hands grab at his cloak and pull him. He was shoved and sent falling. He hit hard against a wooden surface… Dazed, he could see the mast above him… He was on the iceraft? He tried to stand but stumbled, and gripped the railing of the iceraft for balance.
He blinked away the blurriness in his vision. A few feet away, on the jetty, he saw two men duelling. Swords clashing against one another, faster than Tanlor’s disorientated mind could follow. Daegan? Surely not. Then he realised Daegan was standing next to him, his revolver out and aiming at the two swordsmen.
He felt the floor beneath him lurch forward.
“Brakes are off,” he heard Ardy call out. There was a deafening crack as Daegan fired a shot of his revolver. Tanlor lost his footing as the iceraft jerked away from the jetty. He glanced at Ardy who was pulling on a rope and opening up the sail. Wind rippled against it and he felt the iceraft shudder and groan as it pulled by the winds.
Who’s fighting? He looked back at the jetty and saw a red haired man in a green cloak running alongside the jetty in line with them.
“Jump!” He heard Daegan shout and the man leapt out towards them, clearing the short distance and falling into the raft. There was clatter of metal and wood as the man landed in a jumble.
“Rowan?” Tanlor breathed, dumbstruck. He felt dizzy and more of his vision began to turn red. He could vaguely make out his brother getting to his feet and pointing. Tanlor tried to follow his line of sight, spinning his head back toward the town. Tanlor couldn’t make out anything. All he could discern was that the iceraft was pulling them away from Urundock… and fast.
“Tanlor, you’re bleeding,” Tanlor heard Rowan’s voice just before his vision turned dark.
“We need to bandage your wounds…”
“I’m fine,” Tanlor tried to say but it came out as more of a murmured breath.
He could hear Daegan and Rowan’s voices but couldn’t understand their words. He just needed to sit down. Blindly, he tried to sit back but his grip on consciousness was slipping away from him. The sounds of the rushing wind and voices faded away as Tanlor’s mind finally surrendered.
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