The Cost of Betrayal

1

Qurrah was the last to wake. The sun was high in the sky, dawn several hours past. He kept his eyes closed and his body still. Every muscle ached from the battle of Woodhaven the day before. He thought of his escape with his master…former master, he corrected mentally. Velixar had died, his body riddled with elven arrows tipped with blessed water. Abandoned and alone, Qurrah had staggered through the fire and corpses, bitter and angry at his brother Harruq for not being there in his time of need.

At the thought of his brother, Qurrah felt his stomach tighten. He could hear Harruq talking with Aurelia, an elf he had befriended over the past few months. He was smitten, though he seemed oblivious as to how badly. Their talk was of small things, purposefully avoiding the conflicts of the prior day.

A pleasant smell teased his nostrils. His stomach rumbled noisily. Qurrah finally coughed and stirred, alerting the two to his awakening. Noticing the movements, Harruq trudged over, food in hand.

“Morning,” he said, handing him a plate full of sausage, lettuce, and buttered bread.

“Did you abduct a cook while I slept?” Qurrah asked.

“Courtesy of the elf,” Aurelia said, walking over. “And finally you’re awake. Hurry and eat.”

Qurrah took the plate and sampled a bit of sausage. The warm food stirred his stomach. He couldn’t remember when he had last eaten. He rammed food into his mouth, not caring about any sort of manners. Aurelia watched him, a small frown tugging at the corners of her mouth. Qurrah seemed pale and drained, his muscles almost non-existent as they clung to his bones. He looked like a pathetic caricature of his brother, one drained of warmth, joy, and trust.

But not strength. Aurelia knew well the strength the half-orc hid, powerful necromancy honed to a fearful precision at the hands of his master, Velixar. Both brothers were half-orc, half-elf, and that mixture seemed to have unlocked a strange reservoir of power for the two of them. Many elves had fallen to them in battle, overwhelmed by blade and magic.

“Careful there,” Aurelia said as Qurrah nearly choked on some lettuce. “I can make more if you’re hungry. I never expected you to out-eat your brother.”

A wave of her hand and the plate refilled. The brown sausage steamed as if just taken from a fire. Qurrah stared and shook his head.

“How?”

“A simple spell. I could teach you, if you wished.”

The half-orc resumed eating, nodding as he did. “I would appreciate it.”

Harruq sighed, remembering all the meager meals, many stolen, that he and Qurrah had shared over the many years.

“Too bad you never learned that spell ages ago,” he grumbled.

After Qurrah finished, the three prepared for travel. It didn’t take very long, considering their meager possessions. Qurrah had his magic whip, which he wrapped around his arm, and his pouch of bones and other components for his spells. Harruq buckled his swords to his belt, ran a hand through his hair, and then declared himself ready.

“So where are we to go?” she asked, her own few things tucked away in secret pockets of her dress.

“We know little of this world,” Qurrah said. “We have been exiled twice. Once for our blood, and once for the blood we spilled.”

Aurelia winced, still uncomfortable with mention of the battle. Harruq and Qurrah had fought against her elven kin and slaughtered many, but she had protected Harruq and even helped him escape. A day later, she still was not sure why. She just remembered the panicked, desperate look in Harruq’s eyes when he thought she might die, murdered by his own hands.

“Mordan banished my kind,” Aurelia said. “And it seems now Neldar has done the same. East or West, there is no home for me.”

“You said yesterday you could get us into Veldaren,” Harruq said. “Is that true?”

Veldaren was the capital of the kingdom of Neldar, and had been the brothers’ previous home before they had been expelled.

“Only if you both play along,” Aurelia said. “How we live once we’re in, though, will depend on you.”

“It might not be comfortable,” Qurrah said. “My brother and I are used to the dark and the filth. Could you say the same?”

“Don’t treat me like a prissy child princess,” Aurelia said. “I’ve lived longer than the two of you combined. I can endure a bit of hardship. Now close your eyes, Harruq.”

She placed her hands on his face as he stared at her with wide eyes.

“Um, what are you doing, Aurry?”

“Be quiet. Can you remember what Veldaren looks like from beyond the gates?”

“Yeah, but why?”

“I said close your eyes. Concentrate on that image. It’ll be hard, knowing you, but try anyway.”

Qurrah smirked as Harruq did as he was told. He remembered the great wall surrounding the city, made of stacked stones, each one taller and wider than several men. He remembered the great oak doors, lined with metal and steel. He remembered the castle proper, looming over the city with its great collection of towering spires and crenellated walls. It was an awesome sight, crafted by the hand of the dark god, Karak.

Aurelia focused on these images, lifting them from Harruq’s mind akin to a ladle drawing water from a well. She focused on the fields of grass stretching from the front entrance on either side of a worn path. Perfect. Eyes still closed, she let go of Harruq and stepped back. Words of magic slipped through her lips. The air before her ripped open into a flat, whirling blue essence.

“And there we go,” she said, opening her eyes. “Veldaren.”

She stepped through the portal and vanished. The two half-orcs glanced at one another.

“You first, my brother,” Qurrah said.

“I’d hate to leave you again. I’ll follow after.”

“Get in there, you child.”

“Fine,” Harruq grumbled. He took a deep breath, took another, and then stepped through. Qurrah followed.

Both felt the same sensation of flying over a great distance, yet to their minds they had taken a single step. The gentle hills north of Woodhaven were gone, replaced by the walls of Neldar, the city of stone.

“That was easy enough,” Harruq said. He decided not to mention his insides felt like they were doing loops.

“We have been banished, as has your kind,” Qurrah said. “How do you plan to sneak us in?”

“Through the front gate, of course,” Aurelia said. “Just give me a moment.”

She chanted again, the words far different than any spell Qurrah was used to hearing. This was no magic of destruction or death. No, it was a much subtler magic. Aurelia’s dress changed from a simple green to an elegant mix of reds and violets. The gold of her skin faded pink. Her ears lost their upturned tips, enlarging and rounding out into human ears. After a quick snap of her fingers, white gloves appeared, covering up to her elbows.

“I look the definition of a rich noble of Mordeina, do you not agree, my servants?” she asked.

“Servants?” Qurrah said. “Surely you jest.”

“Why else would you two accompany me? Keep your mouths shut, and agree with anything I say. Oh, and here.”

Another snap of her fingers, and suddenly large leather bags, clipped together by gold and silver buckles, appeared at their feet. The elf winked.

“A noble doesn’t travel empty handed.”

“You mean a noble’s servants,” Harruq grumbled. He picked up two, grunting at their weight. “What is in here?”

“Rocks. And you forgot a bag.”

He looked at the third, sitting in front of Qurrah.

“I am but an advisor and protector,” the weaker half-orc said. “You would not think I would be forced into physical labor, would you?”

Aurelia laughed into her glove as Harruq shifted two bags to his right hand and grabbed the third with his left.

“Laugh all you want, I’m dropping these things the second we’re inside.”

“You poor dear. Now hurry, we don’t want my delicate skin in the sun for too long.”

They were far enough away from the entrance that Aurelia’s shift in clothes and facial design went unnoticed. Harruq grunted and groaned with every step, his arms bulging with muscle. He felt they would pop out of their sockets if he travelled much farther. He dropped the bags as they halted before the two gate guards, who had barred the entrance with their crossed spears.

“I’m sorry, milady, but those things have been banned from the city,” said one guard.

Aurelia scoffed at the two guards as if they were children.

“I don’t know how, since I, and they, have never been here before.”

“Only human blood is allowed entrance,” said the other. “I suggest you leave them outside during your stay.”

“I most certainly will not,” Aurelia huffed. “You don’t expect a frail thing such as myself to carry these bags on my own, do you?”

“I’m sure you could hire…”

She interrupted him by snapping her fingers in front of his nose.

“I have already hired my servants. And if I recall, you have banned elves, not orcs.”

“Milady, we may turn away any we wish. I am telling you, those things behind you are not coming inside, servants or otherwise.”

Qurrah put a hand on Harruq’s arm, which was shaking with slowly building rage.

“Calm, brother,” he whispered. “Save your anger for when it may do good.”

Aurelia untied a coin purse from her sash, hoping neither of the gate guards heard Qurrah’s words.

“Now then,” she said, her mood brightening, “you say I can hire new servants? Well, how about I hire you two?”

The guards exchanged glances, and did so a second time with much wider eyes when the disguised elf opened the purse to reveal a pile of shiny gold coins.

“I’d say three a piece is fair, don’t you?” she asked.

“More than fair,” the first guard said.

“Oh yes,” said the second.

“Good,” she said, dropping the thick coins into each outstretched hand. She tied the purse back to her sash. A flick of her finger, and Harruq picked up the bags.

“Well, my servants, I could use such armed and competent men as yourselves. I’ve been afraid of thieves the past few days. Could you stare off that way and make sure none chase after me? I’ll sleep better tonight if you do.”

“Welcome to Veldaren,” both guards said in unison. They uncrossed their spears and pointedly ignored the two half-orcs as they entered the city.

“Since when are you a rich little elf?” Harruq asked once they were beyond earshot.

“Since never,” she laughed. “In about an hour, those two will find themselves three copper pieces richer. I hope it is enough to buy them a drink to drown their sorrow.”

“And I thought I was the devious one,” Qurrah said.

A few peddlers eagerly brought out their wares as the trio passed by. Aurelia waved them off without slowing. For the most part, however, they were ignored. The southern districts of Veldaren were filled with homes of the poorer inhabitants. It wasn’t until the center of the city that the real merchants set up shop. A beautiful fountain carved as a statue of a crowned man wielding a sword marked where the roads leading from the southern and western gates met. Aurelia paused before the statue, reading aloud the writing beneath.

“Valius Kren, first great King of Neldar…”

She chuckled at the blurred writing underneath, knowing full well what it originally said.

“…to be appointed by the hand of glorious Karak himself,” she finished. Harruq gave her a funny look, but Qurrah seemed far more intrigued.

“How is it you know this?” he asked.

“About sixty years ago some priests of Ashhur demanded the statue be destroyed, or the words below erased. Karak founded this entire nation, and placed the stones with his hands, yet it seems many would like to forget such an allegiance. It was all the talk among the elves, many fearing the humans would soon forget, and then repeat, the mistakes of their past.”

“I would not have expected empathy for Karak from one such as you,” Qurrah said.

Aurelia frowned at him in her foreign face.

“It is not empathy. I just wonder at the foolishness of humans. Before Karak and Ashhur warred, both were loving, benevolent deities. If anything, mankind should remember that all may fall.”

“Fascinating, but my arms are really starting to hurt,” Harruq said from behind them. “Where the abyss are we going?”

“Didn’t you two used to have a home here?” she asked him.

“Yeah, but you don’t want to live there. It was just a small shed, we hardly fit inside.”

“Milady of Mordan, may I interest you in the finest silks this side of the rivers?” interrupted a shouting voice.

“Oh Celestia help us,” Aurelia moaned as a chubby man with a mustache waddled over, purple cloth in his hand.

“Not interested, buddy,” Harruq growled, intercepting the merchant. “Go bug someone else.”

“Do I know you?” the merchant asked, giving both brothers an inquisitive look.

“They’re my pets, and you know all orcs look the same,” Aurelia said, gently pushing Harruq aside. “And forgive us, but I would like to delay until I have rented my room.”

“Of course,” he said, bowing deeply. Qurrah crossed his arms, his mouth locked in a frown.

“What is it?” the elf asked him once the merchant marched back to his stand propped against the side of a building. Qurrah dipped his hand into the fountain and drank.

“His eyes never left me and my brother,” he said once finished. “Any merchant worth his wares knows to never break contact with the buyer.” He nodded again, his eyes darting to the side. “And he watches us even now.”

“A thief, perhaps?” Aurelia asked.

“There are no thieves,” Harruq said, shifting a bag from his right hand to his left. “Guess you don’t know about the guilds here, do you?”

“Another time,” Qurrah said. “Someone else is watching us. We need to leave.”

“Well,” Harruq said, taking the initiative. “Nowhere else to go but home, if it still stands. Anyone follows us, we’ll know.”

Harruq led the way, following the western road for a quarter mile before darting south. Fewer and fewer people traveled the streets, and those that did stared openly at Aurelia. It wasn’t often a noble of worth came anywhere near their homes. Harruq led them deeper south, into the old, decaying part of the city.

“Is anyone still following us?” Aurelia asked.

“Not that I see,” Qurrah said. “But I feel it still, eyes watching from afar.”

“Come on, we’re almost there,” Harruq said. “I’d say we already look suspicious enough. Think I can dump the bags?”

“No need.” A wave of her hand and the bags vanished into nothing. Harruq stretched his arms, moaning with approval.

“Much better.” His hands fell to his swords. “Follow me.”

With Harruq no longer carrying the bags, they made a faster pace. Aurelia took in as much as she could as they weaved through homes and back alleys. They were so close to the prosperous northern districts, yet here it seemed the sun shone less, the faces bore little happiness, and no sign of wealth dared let itself show. With each turn Harruq led them on, things grew worse.

“There are no places such as these in Woodhaven,” Aurelia said softly.

“Welcome to the dark parts of mankind,” Qurrah muttered with strange amusement. Drunk men wandered the street in daytime. A few whores catcalled to them. The air stank of feces and urine, for the thin sewers on each side of the street were clogged and overflowing. Lying beside a ditch, crowned with a halo of flies, was a blood-spattered corpse. No one seemed to notice.

Qurrah glanced back, barely catching sight of a yellow robe.

“Find us a building,” he said to Harruq. “Make it large and empty.”

The big half-orc approached what had once been a storehouse. A shove of his arm, and the weathered door collapsed. Dust erupted as it hit the ground. Harruq led the way, Aurelia and Qurrah following after.

“Cheerful place,” Harruq said as he looked about the mostly empty building. Dust covered the floor, and splintered boards hung from the windows. Feces and dried urine filled one corner, and stacked hay filled another. A few crates and some rotting wood decorated the place.

“Who chases us?” Aurelia asked, frowning at the sight around her.

“Are your spells ready?” Qurrah asked her.

“I’m a sorceress. My spells are always ready.”

“Good. Because I fear we have a mage nearby.”

As he said those words, Aurelia’s robe faded back to its deep green, her ears returned to their sharp points, and her face, back to its exotic beauty.

“Uh oh,” she said.

It was then that a wide blanket of interlaced webs fell on top of all three.