Chapter 433: The Road to Serrath

Ruggah’s eye glowed, "You were away for fifteen days, and we were almost beginning to lose hope."

I blinked, fifteen days? Dorrik had barely spent a moment in the creation of these weapons, how could fifteen days have passed by without me knowing?

I thought I had an understanding of the magic of the gods, but the more I learned, the more I realized how much I did not know. It was clear that what seemed like mere moments inside the halls of Dorrik were actually much longer than I thought.

Now that I observed these people more closely, I could see that they appeared much refreshed than before, as if they had indeed rested a long while and recovered from their wounds, and what drove this point home was the fact that Ogg’s second arm had healed, and he no longer had a stump, although his new arm was impossibly thin, likely needing more time to return to its previous state.

"These are yours," I said, and stepped back, expecting them to go after the weapons, but none of them moved, and then I noted that one of the Shades was missing, but before I could ask what had happened, I saw the Shade coming from the distance leading a horse, and I understood that he must have gone to bring a means of transportation for me... how novel.

Soon the Shade arrived and nodded towards me, and his eyes fell on the weapons by the fire and he drew in a long breath. Satisfied that the warband was complete, Ruggah stepped towards the weapons and he picked up the glaive, and I saw the surprise in his eye at how light and balanced the weapon was, for something that was almost ten feet long... as though it had been forged for his hands alone.

"It is... perfect," he whispered, and he stepped back, cradling the weapon in both of his hands.

There was a particular order to the warband, and I was not surprised that Ogg came next. He lifted the mace with his good arm, and the golden light from the weapon reflected in his eyes. "It is lighter than I expected," he grunted, "but I have no doubt it would be able to crush skulls when the need calls for it." Looking at me, he grinned, showing sharp fangs. "And there will be a great need for it."

Tam muscled his way to the front, and Thurrim frowned with annoyance before he blew out his breath in irritation. The young man seized the sword, and I saw the surprise in his eyes as he felt it respond to his touch. "It feels... alive," he whispered.

"What do you think?" Thurrim growled as he tapped Tam in the back, almost causing him to stumble. "It was made by a god."

With a grunt, the dwarf took up the axe. "This is a proper weapon," he said, running his hand along the handle. "My clan would be proud."

Ines looked at me with apology before she glared at her brother whose eyes were focused on nothing but the blade. She went forward and took the bow, and the moment her fingers touched it, I saw a small smile cross her face for the first time.

She was silent and did not say anything, but sometimes a smile said more than words would.

The three Shades moved as one, each taking a pair of the bracers that Dorrik had forged from their shadows. They did not speak, but I saw the way their forms seemed to settle more firmly into the world, as though the bracers had anchored them to reality in a way they had not been before.

I was curious about the abilities of these Shades, but if the journey would be as difficult as I thought it would, then I would be seeing them fight soon enough.

Sef, or perhaps it was Sen, turned to me and nodded once.

Coin remained the last, as she seemed content to watch the others before she made any move, and I watched her out of the corner of my eye, and there had been no shift in her ethereal features all this while.

She approached the pendant with slow, deliberate steps, as though she were approaching something sacred. When her fingers closed around it, I saw a tremor run through her frame, and for a moment, the air around her shimmered with something that was not quite light and not quite shadow.

"The memory," she whispered. "I can feel them. They are so close."

She slowly set the pendant to the ground and she knelt before it, and brought her forehead to the ground as if she was in prayer. I saw the others becoming silent... I do not know much about the race of this strange woman, but I could recognize that this moment carried more weight than anyone here could fully understand.

After an hour of prayer, she slowly picked up the pendant, and turned towards me, and beneath the hood, I saw the faint outline of something that might have been a smile.

"Thank you."

I nodded, not trusting my voice.

∞

The warband stood in a loose circle, their new weapons gleaming in the morning light. They looked different now, not just armed, but whole. The despair that had clung to them like a shroud was gone, replaced by something that looked almost like hope.

Ruggah turned to me, his glaive resting easily in his grip. "What now?"

I took a breath. This was the moment I had been preparing for. The moment when words became actions, when promises became a journey.

"Pack your camp," I said. "We leave within the hour."

They moved without question, breaking down tents and gathering supplies with the efficiency of soldiers who had done this a thousand times before. I watched them work, and I felt the weight of what I was about to ask of them settling onto my shoulders.

When they were ready, horses saddled, packs secured, weapons within easy reach, I called them together.

"Before we begin the journey," I said, "there is somewhere we need to go first."

Ruggah’s eye narrowed. "Where?"

I met his gaze. "Serrath."

∞

The name fell like a stone into still water. I saw the ripple of reaction pass through the group, Thurrim’s jaw tightening, Ines’s hands clenching on her bow, Ogg’s ancient eyes closing for a moment as though in prayer.

Tam was able to tear his eyes away from the blade to speak out. "Why? There is nothing there but bones and ash."

"Because I need to see it," I said. "I need to understand what happened there, to see it with my own eyes."

What I did not tell them was that I needed to verify the vision that came to me when they spoke about this place. I had a feeling that this strange skill may grow further if I was able to actually see the visions it had given me... that headless corpse kneeling at the center of a vast field of bodies.

Ruggah was silent for a long moment. When he spoke, his voice was rough. "We are now your warband, and where you take us, we will follow."

There was silence and then Thurrim grunted. "Good," he said. "I have been wanting to go back anyway. There are some things I need to say to my father’s bones, if any still remain."