Weight of Blood

6

O ne sword came from above, aiming for her shoulder, while the other thrust low. The staff twirled, batting the thrust to one side. Aurelia spun. The downward strike sliced the air an inch from her arm. She continued the turn, her staff whirling. The swords sliced back, trying to block, but they were too slow. The staff cracked against Harruq’s forehead.

He staggered backward, his eyes going wide and blank.

“Look at all the pretty colors,” he said.

“Very funny,” Aurelia said. She smiled. “That was my first good hit of the day. Mind if we make it the last?”

“I’m doomed,” Harruq said, ignoring her. “Oh the agony. What a way to die.” He collapsed, his arms splayed wide and his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

Aurelia giggled. “Never thought a half-orc dying could be so adorable.”

His eyes flared wide.

“I’m not!” he insisted.

She slid over beside him, her long hair cascading down across his face.

“Oh, but I think you are,” she said. “Since you’re down here, how about I-”

“I’m fine. I’m fine.” Harruq sat up, breathing heavily even though the sparring match that day had been relatively casual. The elf smirked and trotted away.

“Hey, Aurelia,” Harruq said.

“Yes, Harruq?” She turned around.

Harruq tapped the hilts of his swords with his fingers and glanced about the clearing.

“I…you still want to hear that story?” he asked.

The playful atmosphere vanished into the trees. Aurelia walked back over and sat on her knees. She put a hand on his shoulder. He tensed and jerked away, then blushed at his reaction.

“Sorry,” Harruq stood up, his face burning red. “This is stupid. I’m leaving.”

“Stay, please,” Aurelia said. The half-orc halted, turned, and sat back down. His face was still beet red but the elf paid it no mind.

“Alright,” Harruq grumbled. “No interrupting, and no saying a thing. I just want to get this over with. Don’t even know why I’m telling you this.”

“Because you must,” she said, a bit of her stubbornness returning. “Because I need to know.”

The half-orc nodded. He began his story.

“The only money I ever made was working for the king,” Harruq said. “This was after the orcs attacked Veldaren about a year ago and busted up the walls. They were hiring everybody to help rebuild and I was just as strong then as I am now. They weren’t paying much, but you got to remember we were stealing food to live. Those few coins they gave me were a treasure.

“Most didn’t mind me working with ‘em. I worked hard, harder than most, and I kept my mouth shut, believe it or not. Only one guy there hated me, though, and I mean hated. Perry was his name. Always calling me names, trying to make me lose my balance while lifting and carrying things. Then he did something stupid, Aurelia. He did that in front of Qurrah.”

Harruq thrust out his chin and squint his eyes.

“This was how that Perry guy looked. Seen dogs look more human. He was strong, and I think he was the strongest before I showed up. I told him about this contest me and Qurrah made up, some arm wrestling thing. Guy was drunk out of his mind, so when I told him we could win four gold coins he should have figured something was off.

“We met after work, just past sundown, and I led him straight to Qurrah. We lived way down in the south of Veldaren. Not too many out there at night, and those who are don't see anything and don’t talk about what they don't see. Qurrah cast a spell on Perry then, kind of like you did with the guards. He shouted until his head turned purple but made no sound for the effort. Then Qurrah cast another spell that made him go all tough and rigid. Felt like I was holding a stick. We took him inside and put him on the floor.

“He wasn’t supposed to die,” Harruq said, staring right into Aurelia’s eyes so she would know it was no lie. “We didn’t mean to have what happened happen, but well… Qurrah put a bunch of meat on Perry’s face. It was old and stank. Poor guy still had to keep smelling it, though. And then Qurrah cast his spell.

“The meat started bubbling and turning watery. It ran down his face, even into his eyes. It burned him. His skin turned black, like it was rotting. He called me dogface all the time, Perry did. We were making him just like what he called me. A dogface. But it went wrong. I yelled at Qurrah to stop, and I think he wanted to, but he kept shrieking more of that curse. Then he…”

Harruq rubbed his eyes with his hands and refused to meet Aurelia’s gaze.

“And then Qurrah removed the spells that kept him from talking and moving. He screamed and screamed and he just, he just…he tore off his own face. He just reached up and yanked that mess off him. He died. Qurrah fell over, too weak to stand. Never seen him so scared in my life. He kept staring at that guy’s face and blubbering. He said he didn’t mean to. That’s all he said, over and over. He didn’t mean to. He tried to stop. We burned the body, and I don’t think we ever talked about it since.”

Silence filled their clearing as Harruq’s story ended.

“I asked for the first time you killed,” Aurelia said after an agonizingly long pause.

“I know,” Harruq said. “And I did. I brought Perry to Qurrah. I failed to stop him when I saw something was wrong. If there is blame, it falls on me.”

The elf stared off into the forest, her eyes seeing nothing. Harruq and Qurrah’s relationship could not be more clear to her mind. Qurrah directed, Qurrah ordered, and then Harruq bore the guilt and the blame. Did Harruq ever consider disobedience? She didn’t know.

“We done here?” the half-orc asked.

“Yes,” Aurelia said. “You may go, Harruq.”

He did.

T hat night, Qurrah slept deep. For the past week, he had slumbered for a few hours and at the end of fitful dreams awakened to meet with Velixar. This time, however, he went deeper and deeper into his nightmare. Mobs of men surrounding him shrieked for vengeance, and then suddenly fell lifeless. Velixar rose amid the bodies.

“I am sorry I must meet you this way, my apprentice,” Velixar said.

“What has happened?” Qurrah asked.

“We are being watched, and therefore a little precaution is necessary. I will send my darkness to you. Enter it without hesitation.”

Red lines pierced the darkness. Amidst the glowing hue of blood, Velixar pulsed like a god.

“I shall do as you wish,” Qurrah whispered. He fell to one knee.

“I will accept no less,” the god in black rumbled. The nightmare broke like shattered glass, and Qurrah silently rose from his bed. Harruq snored as usual. The stars were shining bright, and through the hole in ceiling he could see their presence.

Leave your home, said a whisper on the wind. Follow the darkness.

The half-orc did as he was told. He slipped outside the door and into the cold streets of Woodhaven.

A floating form hung outside, softly rotating. It was a blob of nothingness, purely dark and empty. Qurrah slipped his hand into it and watched his flesh vanish from view. Heeding the words from the dream, he stepped inside. It was cold, and his eyes saw nothing. An invisible hand grabbed the front of his robe, cold and ethereal. It yanked him onward at a running pace. He ran past the homes, through the dark alleys, and away from the town. His chest burned and his throat throbbed in pain, but he continued. He would never let weakness prevent him from learning from his master. Never.

The blob of darkness suddenly halted, the invisible hand leaving his robes. Wind blew, and the darkness dissipated upon it. Qurrah collapsed to his knees and retched. Velixar, sitting comfortably in the grass, watched in silence.

“Where are we?” Qurrah asked once he had regained his breath.

“Not far from Woodhaven,” Velixar said. “Closer to the forest and hidden behind hills so that those in the town may not see us.” He gestured to where a fire normally would have been burning between them. “We must sacrifice some comforts. Eyes have been watching us. Given time, we might have been attacked. I do not fear for my life but you are still fragile.”

“Then teach me more,” Qurrah said, still on his knees. “I am ready.”

“Indeed, you are. From now on I shall send my cloud and you will follow inside.” The man in black glanced at the cold sweat covering the half-orc. “I can slow the pace at which it travels, if you would prefer.”

Qurrah did not answer, only slowly nodded his head.

“Very well,” Velixar said, reaching a hand into his robe. “Shall we begin?”

He pulled out a small, catatonic squirrel. It would be the target for their spells.

“I am ready,” Qurrah said. Throughout the night, they practiced. Throughout the night, the half-orc became much more dangerous.

T he final days of sparring with Aurelia passed quiet and swift. Aurelia asked for no stories and Harruq told her none. They simply enjoyed each other’s company, fought to the extent of their skill, and then left. On the fourteenth and last day, however, Harruq was in an unusually quiet mood. His mind refused to stay on the mock combat, and many times a quick jab of Aurelia’s staff cracked his arm or wrist when he should have easily deflected it away.

Finally, the elf called it a day. She set aside her staff.

“I thank you for sparring with me,” she told him.

“It’s nothing,” he said. “Better to spar with someone than practice alone.”

Aurelia smiled. “You’re different than what I expected, Harruq. Smarter, too.”

Harruq blushed. “No need for lies,” he said.

The elf laughed a little but said nothing. Instead, she walked over and gave Harruq a quick peck on the cheek.

“Keep your big butt safe, okay?” she said.

The half-orc tried to answer but his mouth refused to cooperate. Somehow, it seemed to have become unhinged. Besides, it wasn’t as if he could think of anything to say. All his mind could concentrate on was the feel of the elf’s soft lips on his cheek, the flowery scent of her perfume mixed with sweat, and the quick brush of her breasts against his arm.

By the time his jaw and mind began working again Aurelia was laughing.

“What’s so funny?” he demanded. The elf smiled.

“Nothing. Just a big stupid half-orc I’m going to miss. Bye-bye.”

She waved and then vanished into the forest. For a long time, Harruq remained. He ran a hand through his hair and pondered what in the abyss was wrong with him.

“Never get involved with elves,” he mumbled. “Never ever should have gotten myself screwed up like this.”

But a part of him liked it, and that scared him even more.

H arruq arrived at the clearing the next morning at the same time as always. Aurelia stepped out from behind a tree, her cold, emotionless face so different from the previous day.

“We have sparred our two weeks, Harruq,” she said. “You have no need to come here.”

“Yeah, well, you heard what I said yesterday,” Harruq said, his face red.

“What was that?”

He kicked a rock. “It’s better to spar with another, remember?”

Aurelia frowned. “You know I am a sorceress. My time should be spent studying my craft. I only wanted to be proficient with my staff, not a master.”

A tiny bit of panic crept into Harruq’s voice. “Yeah, but, but, it’s only an hour or two, and who said you were proficient anyway? I could beat you without trying, and so could anyone better than me. It would be stupid now to just stop and…”

Aurelia crossed the distance between them and placed her hand across his mouth to shut him up. A grin lit her entire face.

“Okay, Harruq. I will do as you wish and keep meeting with you.”

“For sparring,” he said after she pulled her hand away.

“Sure. That too.”

Harruq blushed but let it go.

“Well, you ready to go, little elfie?” he said, trying act gruff.

“Of course.” Aurelia retrieved her staff, smiling to herself. She was flattered with the offer, more so than Harruq knew.

“Well,” Aurelia said, twirling her staff. “Ready for a go?”

“Oh yeah,” Harruq said, drawing his swords. “You’ve got no idea.”

But she did, and it made her laugh all the more.