Vortumbra - the old man's tale

4 - The noruk's citadel

Although his body was sore and his feet full of blisters, the old man felt good, as he had not felt for a long time. At first, he thought it was because he was being useful now, but on second thoughts, he was useful in Tedris, resurrecting blades.

And then he knew what it was. He was no longer alone. Even if he went out during the day and talked to people, always at night and in the morning, he was alone. He ate alone, he always ate alone. There was no one else to share life with, the people he spoke to were customers or merchants. He had no friends, really. At least not anymore. Some died in the war. Others, died, moved, disappeared until there was no one left but himself.

He had been traveling with them for less than a month, but he felt Motoku was his friend, Renkiou always had a story to tell, and he also liked to ask about the old man's participation in the war. And as for Eriana, well, she was always with them. She did not talk much and did not consider him as a person.

He just felt a little better about her, when he found out that in a way, that's who she was. Renkiou talked a lot about his father, Sir Gram, as he was the greatest dragon hunter of all time. The old man had heard Gram's name once, but what he heard was not even half as much as the young knight was saying. He told Gram hunted a rare blue-scaled dragon, the most fierce and fearsome dragon in the world. But within all stories people told, the worst dragon was confronted, so the old man was not much impressed by what he heard.

The old man was very curious about Eriana's story, but he knew almost nothing about it. And she never talked about herself. Motoko didn't know much about her either. He only knew that she and Renkiou were already traveling together when the knight bought him, many years ago. Sometimes the old man got a little behind and Motoku talked to him while the sorceress and the knight whispered to each other, ahead.

"Back on Tedris, you were going to say the dragons were somebody's work, but Mrs. Eriana told you to shut up."

"What? Oh yeah..." he said softly. "I'm not sure who this guy is, but I heard some of their conversations. Somebody called Le'Daman. I think he's a sorcerer..."

"If he did bring those dragons, he's a great bastard!"

"The world is full of bastards".

The old man could not disagree with that. So the trip continued, the supplies getting scarcer. The days that followed brought icy winds as they climbed the tracks through of the mountains.

At that point, only Renkiou still had the heart to speak as they walked. The best time of day was to stop to camp and sleep. The old man was a little afraid, not of dragons, but of shunas. They were large, gray-striped cats. They hunted in small prides. They had spotted some shunas in the distance in the late afternoon. Eriana's sentry wolf warned of the danger that night. The old man froze at the sight of those terrible cat eyes stalking them. Eriana simply scared them off with her lighting, being careful not to hurt them.

Renkiou complained. "You might have roasted one of those shunas for dinner!"

"These creatures are important where they are. Besides, we would waste most of the meat".

The old man noticed that Motoku seemed to disagree, but decided just to remain silent.

"How much longer until we reach Guin'uji?" The old man thought he might die if he had to travel for many days under such conditions.

"Two days," Eriana replied gazing at the starry sky.

The old man sat back happily. He thought he might survive for two more days.

"Thank you for saving us from those shunas," he murmured.

She stared at him for a moment, her face half hidden by the shadows of the fire, and she only gave a brief nod.