Spear and Shadow

PART 5

Arvin awoke to an orange sky and groaned as he sat up. The sun was barely visible over the horizon. He looked back towards Hamikstead and tilted his head. A large column of smoke rose into the sky above the village. They must of been burning the bandits bodies.
"Oh so you're finally awake?"
He turned to see Cervas rolling his bed roll up and grinning at him.
"Is it dawn or dusk?"
He laughed.
"It's dawn. The sun started to rise barely fifteen minutes ago."
He nodded as he rubbed his eyes and stretched.
"So where are we headed?"
Cervas huffed.
"We need to go to a larger village."
He tilted his head.
"I thought we were avoiding civilization?"
He nodded.
"Yes. We are. But... I forgot to pack weapons. We're basically defenceless. So we need to go and buy some."
He sniggered and Cervas glared at him.
"I'm glad you think it's funny."
He composed himself and put on a straight face.
"No you're right. This is a very serious situation."
Cervas stared for a moment before laughing.
"Gods this is going to be a long day."
He nodded.
"Perhaps."
Sat down and looked around. Nora was curled into ball on her bed roll. She had moved it to be inbetween his and Cervas's and the fire. Despite being asleep she was muttering to herself. He sighed.
"I wonder what's going on with her."
Cervas titled his head.
"What do you mean?"
He shrugged.
"I'll let her explain."
He nodded and returned to clearing the camp. Half an hour later they had the camp completely cleared, save for the bedroll that Nora was still sleeping on. Cervas sighed.
"We should probably wake her up."
He nodded and smiled.
"She'll hate us."
Cervas laughed.
"That's unfortunate. You can have the honor."
He groaned and crouched next her.
"Hey, you need to wake up now."
She didn't respond. He sighed and poked her head.
She sat bolt upright and looked around. Her eyes were wide and panicked.
"Hey hey, calm down."
She took a deep breath and sighed.
"Sorry about that."
He shook his head.
"Don't worry about it. You looked like you were having one hell of a dream. Wanna talk about it?"
She smiled.
"I suppose I do owe you an explanation don't I?"
He nodded.
"You do. But if you aren't ready I get it."
She stared at him.
"Either way though, we need that bed roll you're on."
She nodded and stood up. He smiled to himself as he rolled up the bed roll and strapped it to her travel bag.
"There we go. We're all ready to go. Cervas where're we headed?"
"There's a fairly large village on the other side of the Visildyr mountains called Cliffhold. We'll head there. It'll be a three day hike to the mountains. After that another three days to cross the mountains. Then we'll circle back to the area around Mournvar and gather as much information as we can about this army."
He nodded.
"Alright. That sound good to you Nora?"
He looked at her and lost his smile. She was sat on a rock and had her head in her hands.
"Are you alright?"
She shook her head and looked at him.
"He tortured me."
Cervas crouched next to him as they listened.
"For fourteen years. Day in, day out. There was no end, no rest, just pain. And when he was finished I was sent out to deal with his enemies. His assassin. I killed everyone he asked me to, never once failing. But it was never enough. He'd just keep torturing me."
He felt the blood drain from his face as he processed what he was hearing. Cervas was silent. He gathered himself and stared at her.
"I swear I'll make him pay."
She shook her head.
"No, I deserved it."
Rage flared into life in his mind and he pushed it down.
"Why?"
She faltered and he nodded.
"That's what I thought. I'll make him pay. You have my word, as your friend."
Cervas nodded.
"I've not known you long, but no one deserves that."
He cast a glance at Arvin.
"So I'll help you in anyway I can."
She stared at them as tears streaked down her face.
"Thank you."
She sobbed and wrapped them both in a hug.
"Thank you."
He smiled.
"You're welcome"

A few days layer found them trudging through the knee high snow that coated the tops of the Visildyr mountain. Nora had become more comfortable around them since opening up to them about her past. She'd been all but silent most of the first day of their trip, talked a little more on the second and chattered nonstop on the third.
"It's so damn cold."
Both he and Cervas nodded in unison.
"Yes. It is."
She laughed and caught up with them.
"So why are these mountains called Visildyr? That sounds more like a name than a location."
Cervas nodded.
"That's because it is. There are four mountain ranges of this scale around the world. One here, one in Angvang, another in Rimvar and the final one is in Kymar. Visildyr, Galdyr, Maldyr and the final one is called Yarmdyr. Legend has it that they're all great Dragons that will wake at the end of the world and bring about a new world."
Nora nodded.
"That's a fairly impressive legend."
He smiled.
"Yeah it is."
She smiled.
"I had no idea the world had so many amazing stories to tell."
He laughed.
"well, there are all sorts of things that go on in the world that I'm going to assume you don't know about. All kinds of weird and wonderful stories. Try to enjoy them."
She nodded and they kept walking.