The sun was late in the sky above, still barely showing through the thickening gray clouds. Like stacks of sheep wool piled one on top of the other, singular rays jutting out from the sky like spears of golden rods.The day had been a wash, no Amery and no axe. This was concerning because as far as Draxx knew, Amery had never missed a deadline or not shown up with merchants. When no one had claimed to have seen him that morning, he had decided to pay his friend a visit. His gut told him something was off, there seemed to be that old familiar feel on the wind that things were just not right. That gnawing at the bottom of his stomach that made his chest feel tight.
The walk to town was enough to make Draxx's knees swell and ache, so he had decided to saddle up Nila and head to the tool smith's shop. Good thing too, the winds had picked up already and were blowing bits of snow like swirling ashes after a massive fire.
"Surely he's ok? Maybe he just drank too much last night?" Draxx said as he rubbed Nila's head.
Her ears perked up and she grunted, her hoofs kicking up small puffs of gray dust as she steadily walked forward. He adjusted himself in the saddle and reached into an over hanging bag on her left side, grabbing a bit of rabbit jerky. He reached forward and popped it into her mouth.
"You're right. He never was a drinker. Still, just not like him...but I got that feeling in my gut, sweet girl. Like before Red Sands. Remember?"
She grunted again, while loudly chewing the jerky. He popped a piece into his mouth and began chewing as he checked the map again. Crudely drawn, like by a stable hand's slow minded child. Though, it was easy enough to read and distinguish where he was by the landmarks that were drawn. He was nearly there, and could even make out the shape of a wooden building near the ledge of a steep drop off. There wasn't the type of smoke he expected from a tool smith shop, billowing from the forge chimney, but there was smoke.
"We lost your brother that day, lost Red Sands, and lost most of the children. An utter route. I knew that morning, though. Something bad was gonna happen."
Nila didn't grunt this time, but made a small whine.
"I know, big girl. That was a tough loss. You saved my hide though. Even if it turned out that who I thought was the King of the Flame Sect, wasn't. You still sucked up that grief and saved my old ass."
She whined again. It was amazing to Draxx that she always seemed to know exactly what he was saying and even sometimes, it felt like she could read his mind. They had a connection that he'd never had with another animal, but he didn't dare speak it out loud. People already were a little afraid of him because of his reputation as a fighter, best to not make them think he was bat shit crazy too.
"See it up ahead? Looks like he's done well for himself. His shop is bigger than our house!" He said with a barking laugh.
He reached down and rubbed at one of her ears, "Probably best to pull up to the row of trees beside the shop. I'm not sure he's all that comfortable around animals bigger than him."
The shop was only about twenty feet from the ledge of a cliff that dropped off a sheer two hundred feet, and heights made Draxx a little dizzy. Pulling up to the trees was going to be easier for him too, as he could use the trunks to help him down with his hips beginning to tighten up on him. Plus it was far enough from the drop off that he wouldn't have to really acknowledge it.
He climbed down, gingerly and slowly, then stood stretching his back and legs, "Now, just relax right here. I still don't feel right, so if something seems off out here...you let me know."
She gave a grunt, as he turned to the shop. There wasn't a single thing that made it stand out as anything other than a wooden house, aside from the size of it and the huge chimney. The clay shingles were brown, the wood brown, the big wooden door too. Amery must not be one for decorations, he supposed.
"Amery?!" Draxx said, half shouting.
There wasn't an answer, as he began to walk to the door. "Am, it's Draxx. You in there? You didn't show up with the mercha-"
The door swung open wildly, Amery's head poking out with wild eyes and wild hair. He regarded Draxx with a quick look up and down, then scanned the woods outside before grabbing him by his thick fur jacket and pulling him into the shop and closing the door with a bang. He quickly fumbled with the locks before turning to Draxx and giving a side smile.
"What the shit?" Draxx spat.
"Had to make sure you weren't followed. How's it going buddy?"
Draxx shook his head, "What? Followed?"
Amery nodded, his mess of black hair bobbing up and down.
"I'm real confused. I just came here for-"
He was cut off again as Amery scurried across the room and tossed him his axe. It was a thing of beauty. Polished and stained red with two wooden fingers carved into the handle, Draxx held it with his right hand and was amazed at the balance and comfort.
"Wow. Amery, this is...this...fucking amazing!"
Draxx was smiling from ear to ear and holding the axe out and twisting his wrist. Amery nodded from across the room, still looking nervous and glancing beside the forge occasionally.
"Two things. How much do I owe you, and...are you ok?"
Amery snapped his attention to Draxx and chuckled a nervous twitter, "Draxx, we need to talk. Something happened last night and the ramifications of it are huge."
Draxx frowned, he didn't like this one bit. He grabbed a wooden chair and drug it across the door floor, placing it in front of Amery and dropped into the seat with a tired sigh. Setting the axe on his lap, Draxx looked up with his full attention, "I don't know that word. So, you're gonna have to dumb your talk down for me."
Amery kneeled in the dirt and grabbed a loose nail, he began scratching at the dirt with it aimlessly. He was obviously thinking about something and it seemed to weigh heavy on him.
"Out with it. Better to do the thing than to live in fear of it, man." Draxx said in the calmest voice he could muster.
This whole act Amery was doing was making him really nervous.
"So, Draxx..."
"Amery."
He looked into the big man's eyes. Searching, back and forth, then spit it all out.
"A little girl showed up last night, starved half to death and dirty as shit. She can't speak for nothing, only says her name. I didn't know what to do. So, I helped her. I gave her water and food. Made a bath for her. Even gave her a hay bed to sleep on. She nearly ate all my bread from the market, and I don't go to the market for another three days. But that's not really the problem, because you see...she was hungry. Like starved. So I fed her, but she don't talk. Just says Pela. That's her name. Pela. It's all she says. I was worried for her, like where's her parents? Turns out, she don't have none. No parents, can you imagine that. She was freezing and dirty and hungry and don't have no parents with her."
Amery wiped his brow with a dirty hand and smeared a brown mark across his forehead.
"Ok. A little girl shows up and you feed her. She can't talk though? How do you know she doesn't have parents?" Draxx was leaning forward now, waiting for the bad news. There had to be some in this somehow.
Amery ran a hand through his hair and blew out, "I guess this is where it gets weird."
"Ahhh, shit."
"No, no, no. Not weird like weird, but strange. So, she eats almost all of my bread, right? Drinks like she's never had water before, sloshing it down her chin and spilling it on her jacket. Then, I try to talk to her and that's when I realize. She can't say any words other than Pela. I ask her questions, find out she's alone...or at least thought she was alone, because as soon as she closes her eyes there's a knock on the door. At this point, I'm freaking out a little. Why's there a knock now? Did someone follow her, is someone looking for her? I go back and forth trying to figure what to do, then I just do it. I open the door and for fucks sake. It's another little girl!"
"Another girl?! Am...if you say this was a dream at the end of all of this rambling. I'm going to hit you."
Amery stood up, eyes wide, "I ain't. I wish it were. Gods above, I wish it were. Draxx...do you know who the other girl was? Anese....Star. As in, the Anese Star. The daughter of Rikart, son of Cross."
"Wait, what?!" Draxx exclaimed, standing up in shock.
"You heard me, the Anese Star. Turns out, she is Pela's friend. She's been taking care of her for around a year."
Draxx grabbed Amery and pulled him face to face, speaking slowly, "Do you know who they are?"
Amery pushed Draxx away and straightened out his shirt, "Fuck Draxx. I'm no idiot. Of course I know. We fought against the Flame Sect together. Kind of damn question is that?"
Draxx palmed his face, "Amery..."
"Draxx, she helped Pela. Befriended her. Then, maybe two weeks ago...she wasn't sure...well, there was a big fight. Rikart was taken prisoner by Lucan, something about being a traitor. Then, some guy named Vanni got involved. Started a fight that killed Yalina, her mom. Ordered her brothers killed and Lucan tried to fight Pela too."
Draxx turned from Amery and glanced around the shop, nothing seemed out of the ordinary but something had certainly gone down last night. This story was crazy. He turned back to Amery.
"The King tried to fight this little girl?"
"That's the story. Now the really weird part. Pela, knows magic. Apparently, she used some kind of magic with her voice and blew Lucan away with a gust of wind, then blew a hole in the fortress wall and they escaped. Anese said they'd been wandering around the Crag forest and got separated. She said she followed the smoke and then came to me."
"They're here? Like now?" Draxx spun around looking all over.
Amery raised a finger and went to the side of his forge where he tapped on a hidden compartment in the wooden wall. It slowly opened and the two girls sheepishly walked out, hugging tight to the walls and staying in the shadows.
"Ohhhh fuck. Am....what have you done?"
Amery turned to Draxx, his face half lit by the small forge fire.
"Do you know why they were separated? Pigmen, Draxx. A pack of them. Fucking Pigmen! In the Crag forest."
Draxx ran a mangled hand over his bald head and shook his head, "No fucking way, Amery. Pigmen don't leave their burrows and they'd never come this close to town. Everyone knows that and no one's seen them in ages."
Anese stepped into the light, her red hair shining like fire and her pale skin glowing a soft orange in the forge light.
"Pink men, with tusks on each side of their mouth. Great and long floppy ears, hunched backs and black eyes. Their sounds were terrifying. Like if the inside of a slaughterhouse could speak."
Draxx said nothing, he stared at her. Looking her up and down. Just a girl, maybe late teens. Red hair and small framed. She had described to perfection the Pigmen.
"Pigmen, Draxx. She seen em. I did what I felt was right and true. I helped them. What would you have done?"
Draxx tore his gaze away from Anese and fixed his eyes on Amery and coldly said, "I'd have left them outside. Let the fates decide their life's worth. I don't play hero anymore. There's too much life at stake for that game."
Anese stepped forward and hesitated a moment before coming closer to Draxx. Her bottom lip quivered as she spoke, "You're Club Hand. You fought my Grandfather at Red Sands and my father at Dry Lake."
He pulled back from her and spat on the floor, "I was Club Hand, stupid fucking name. I'm Draxx now. Just Draxx, and I don't fight. Not for Red Sands, not for Dry Lake, not for anyone but myself. I've taken too many life's away from undeserving men. Blood only brings more blood and I've spilled more than a lifetimes worth."
Pela stepped from the half shadows, her big eyes rimmed with tears. She looked at Draxx and then to Amery, wrapping her arms around Anese's hips.
"Pela." She said in a soft voice.
"Please Draxx, they need help and I can't do it by myself. From what Anese has said, Lucan has lost his mind and could attack the Emerald Kingdom any day. You know the scars he's caused in these lands. You know, first hand! Help me take them to the kingdom. That's all I ask."
Draxx sat back down in his chair with a heavy thump, "Baby sit? Cross the lands to where a war could be breaking out at any moment? For what? What do I get out of it?"
Amery walked to Draxx and kneeled in front of the big man, "You get to help two children that need it. You don't have to fight with nobody. Hells, you don't have to pay nothing for that axe."
Draxx laughed, a booming sound that echoed off the walls and startled both girls.
"A fucking free axe for taking two girls all the way to the Emerald Kingdom? Why the hell do they need to go to the Emerald Kingdom anyways?"
Amery looked at the massive scars on Draxx's face, studying each raised pink line and sunken puckered mark.
"The Emerald King and Lucan are blood, first of all. Second, from what Anese says, Pela has more magic than anyone I've ever heard of in this world. Said she made fire with her hands in the woods, conjured darts of air to get lizards to eat, and one time made the dirt turn into a whip. All of that, on top of her special speaking magic. This is someone the King will want to protect and you should too. We know what Lucan is doing with the children and she's not old enough for the mad man to not want her for nothing. C'mon Draxx, it's like a fucking duty!"
Draxx shoved Amery away and stared at the girls hard, "Duty? You wanna talk about duty, Amery? Look at my fucking hands! Every morning I wake up, my joint pop like corn over a fire. I'm old, I'm worn out, and what for? What did I gain? Nothing. Fucking nothing! The king had all he wants and I was just his pawn. His shiny piece he used to win wars and take battles."
Amery shook his head as he stood up, "No, you know that's not true. You got land, you got freedom, you earned the respect of so many. He loves you, like a brother and you know that."
Draxx shook his head slowly, "Maybe you're right. Might be that I've forgotten where I came from. Might be I'm scared to be anything any more."
Anese came forward and set her hand on his huge, rounded shoulders, "Please, mister. Pela, she's special. Lucan has my father as prisoner and he's a good man. I know it, but Lucan and Vanni need to be stopped and the Emerald King has the army that could. If they know what to expect."
Draxx sighed and Amery nodded his head in agreement. Pela took a step forward and in a small voice said, "please..."
Draxx felt a wave of calm come over him, starting in his shoulders and rolling into the taunt muscles of his neck and trickling up into the base of his head. He looked at her and smiled.
"Nice trick, little girl. Never seen that one before, smooth workings. I tell ya what, Am, free axe and I'll travel with ya. Maybe these old bones have one more adventure left in them. For old times sake and for my conscience."
Amery smiled and clapped Draxx on the back, "That's my man! What's this about conscious though?"
"You can only take an axe to so many people before you start seeing their faces in your sleep, or hearing their voices in the wind. It's time I did a thing for protection, for real good."
Pela smiled from ear, and gave a small giggle as she gave Draxx a thumbs up.
"I guess we better get supplies ready then. Nila is outside, so she'll make the ride easier."
Time to do a thing for the right reason, a reason to save bloodshed rather than cause it to make a point. Wars were never black and white, they always had their faded lines and reasoning and blood was always on everyone's hands. No matter the victor. Draxx had seen his share of war and fought for reasons he didn't even know, now he knew what he was doing and it felt right. In his heart, it felt good. He would protect, something he'd never done in his life.
The End of Part 1. The Feral Wilds