Hefring stared at the door that crashed behind his master. He had an urge to follow the old man and ring his neck but he forced himself to accept the situation for what it was.
Selena was still collapsed were she fell, seemingly lifeless against the stone floor. Hefring noticed that she had lost the courageous look that she maintained on the journey to the Keep. She looked pitiful laying there, her arms and legs in awkward positions as they swelled up around the joints. Hefring allowed himself to feel sorry for her until, he realized, doing so would not better the situation.
He looked towards Ajax and nodded. The wolf understood the unspoken gesture and took one step towards the prone woman. He bent his head down and touched one of Selena's limbs with his nose and after a very brief moment a soft crackling noise came from the spot. Suddenly Selena's arms popped back into their normal positions and the areas around her joints became less swollen. Hefring could feel the magic emanating from Ajax, giving him a rush of energy even though he stood several feet away from the wolf. After Selena's arms had been restored Ajax moved on to her legs, healing them in a similar fashion.
Ajax raised his head and sat back on his haunches. "She is healed" he said.
"She looks dead" Hefring muttered out loud.
"She is unconscious. I could revive her but she needs the rest. You should get some rest as well Hefring."
It was at that moment that Hefring noticed how exhausted he was. His muscles were sore and he felt the pang of hunger and the dryness of thirst, having not ate or drank anything in one and a half days. Figuring he would get something to eat after dealing with the unconscious woman, Hefring bent over, grabbed Selena's arms under the shoulders and started dragging her towards a door next to the fireplace.
Hefring grimaced when Selena's head rolled back and hit the stone floor. He had let her go to turn the golden faced knob on the door he was trying to enter. He went through the door which led to a narrow hallway. The hallway was lined with embroidered candles, the bases of which attached directly to the stone wall.
Hefring dragged Selena down the hallway and when he came to another door he opened it with one hand and entered. The room was small and messy. The walls were made up of rows of bookshelves holding a large variety of volumes. Large piles of dusty scrolls and open books lay on the floor, piled up among various curiosities such as mechanical planetary systems and star charts. A small cleared area allowed Hefring to continue to the back of the room which, through another door, led to his own room.
His room was well lit, as a large lantern hung from a spoke on one of the walls. It was larger than the previous room and much tidier. There were several used utensils and a small pile of clothes on the floor, but besides these and a large bearskin rug at the base of the bed, the floor was bare. The walls were covered with parchment and stone fairths depicting various animals and landscapes. Hefring had a hobby of drawing with both with magic and with ink. One of the walls was taken up by a large bookcase, filled to its edges with various history books and novels.
He dragged the woman to a cot, which was situated in a corner of the room under a large dirty glass window, and let her fall onto the mattress. Stepping back from Selena, Hefring groaned and leaned back, stretching his tense back muscles. He was finally free from his duties. He had completed the task his master had given him and, even though he had a lot of assistance from Ajax, he felt content with the result. Hefring stepped out of his room, leaving Selena laying on the cot, and paused at the door. He contemplated locking it but decided not to, figuring that the woman was probably competent enough with the ancient language to open a simple lock.
He made his way down the hall and out the way he came, through the large chamber with the fireplace. Ajax was no longer in the room, making a mysterious exit through an unknown passage. Hefring went through another door leading off of the main chamber and made his way down a stairwell which spiraled all the way to the basement of the Keep.
At the bottom of the stairway was the storeroom filled with various foodstuffs such as dried venison and fruit. Hefring spotted a large metal pot lying in the corner and picked it up. He then went to a box of meat and put two large strips of venison into the pot. After grabbing several other ingredients, including several herbs and a handful of dried tubers, Hefring heaved the pot to his chest and returned to his room.
Hefring used a spell to fill the pot with water and after adding all the ingredients he had collected, laid it on the floor. "Stenr heita" he said and the stone under the pot turned a glowing orange. After a short while the water in the pot was boiling and the rich aroma of venison stew filled the room.
Hefring decided that Selena needed to eat as much as she needed to sleep and he proceeded to wake her, muttering "Vakna".
Selena slowly opened her eyes and looked around the room. Then, as if slowly remembering what had happened, she felt her arms and caressed them against herself.
Looking towards Hefring she muttered, "What happened?"
"You made to leave and my Master stopped you" he replied in a sympathetic tone. "Your arms and legs will probably be sore and itchy for a while but they're fine. Ajax healed you himself."
Selena pulled herself up off the cot and tried to look out of the window. It was covered with so much dust and grim from years of neglect that it was no longer transparent. Hefring enjoyed the natural light of the sun but he was fearful of heights so he left the window in its natural state.
Selena sighed and walked to another corner of the room, precariously stepping over the pile of clothes on the floor, and began unbuckling her bracers and grieves. She had refused to take off her armor when Hefring suggested it earlier in the day when they were starting the journey back. After removing her chainmail cuirass, revealing a muddled brown cloth tunic, Selena approached the boiling pot and sat against a wall facing Hefring. She hugged her legs in close to her body and rested her chin on her knees.
They waited in silence for the soup to finish cooking and after about a half an hour Hefring stirred the soup and without looking up he asked "Can you hand me those". He pointed to two wooden bowls and Selena handed them to Hefring who proceeded to clean them out and fill them with the soup.
He handed a bowl to Selena who muttered a soft "Thank you" before digging into the meal. The two did not speak until they had both eaten several servings of the stew. Selena wiped her mouth with her sleeve, laid the bowl on the ground beside her, and looked at Hefring.
"Why are you here?" Selena asked.
The question seemed strange coming from the woman. She should have been worried about her future instead of Hefring's past.
"What do you mean?" Hefring said distractedly. He had not finished his bowl of soup and was not paying full attention to the woman.
"I mean…you don't seem to belong here, cut off from everything. Why iare/i you here?" Selena continued in a serious tone. The question bored into Hefring's mind for he had raised similar questions with himself.
"I've always been here." He said, shaking his head. He was struggling to come up with an answer. "There's nowhere else for me to go. I have no family that I know of" he explained, "Though I have to admit I've always wanted to see the rest of the world."
"So why don't you leave?" Selena asked. She was staring at Hefring and when he met her gaze he noticed she had deep brown irises.
He put his half empty bowl on the floor next to him. He felt unusually comfortable with Selena, talking to her seemed to come easier than with the other occupants of the Keep.
"I don't leave because my master has taught me that the world is dangerous. He said I need to learn more and become stronger to be able to deal with it." Hefring pointed out as he shifted into a more comfortable position.
"Your master? Does he condemn you to isolation the rest of your life? What makes you think he knows what's best for you?" Selena accused. There was a hint of suppressed anger in her voice.
"He's teaching me. I mean I think he's trying to prepare me for leaving. He's taught me all kinds of things like reading and writing and the ancient language so it's not like he's not doing anything for me." Hefring replied. He had mixed feelings about the old man. At times he was a kind and wise mentor and then suddenly he would act insane and unstable. But there always remained the fact that without a mentor, Hefring would still be illiterate and uneducated.
"He seems overly oppressive to me." Selena said in a matter of fact tone. She rested her head on her knees again, pulling her legs closer to her body.
"You only say that because he broke your arms and legs." Hefring said and let out a small laugh, which he instantly regretted. He paused and looked down at his legs, which were crossed, and started rubbing a stain on his trousers. "You're right though, he is oppressive. Sometimes I feel like we are just in his way, you know."
Hefring paused again. He felt uncomfortable talking about his master without him present, like he was doing something wrong. "He spends most of the time in the caves muttering incantations and when he comes out it's just like do this or do that. Go kill some soldiers or go fetch a young trout." He explained.
"But I need him right?" he went on to ask, "Right?"
"Perhaps, perhaps not." Selena said, tilting her head to the side. "Where did he come from anyway?"
"Well, let me think. It was a while back, at least five years ago I think. Before that it was just me and Ajax." Hefring explained.
"Wait. Ajax raised you?" Selena asked
"Well I was around three when he found me - at least I think I was three. I already spent enough time with humans or whoever raised me to have an idea how to act like a human and I had a basic vocabulary. Ajax taught me how to hunt and stalk animals and stuff like that but he actually learned the human language from me."
He continued, "So when master showed up five years ago, he kind of forced me to be his pupil. He never directly told us why he came or even how he found this place but I think he's studying the magic in the caves. It has something to do with taking energy from naturally occurring sources like the sun but I don't know much about it. He never talks about what he's found."
"Have you ever been in the caves?" Selena questioned.
"No" he answered abruptly. He felt uncomfortable giving information to Selena about the caves. His master enforced that the information should remain a secret and he already felt bad about saying as much as he did.
Selena seemed to sense Hefring's reluctance to continue on the subject so she asked, "Do you know where you are? I mean relative to everything else."
Hefring thought about the question. He had never seen a map of Alagaesia, though he was sure his master had one. "All I've seen is the maps of the forest. Master has described Alagaesia to me but he's never shown me a visual." He explained.
"You're in the Beor mountains, close to the western edge of the range. You are living on top of what is called Mani's Caves, the long lost dream caves of the dwarves." Selena said as if it should be common knowledge.
He had heard the names before but could not picture them cartographically. "Yeah, I know about the Beor mountains and I know who Mani is. He is the dwarf who built this Keep." Hefring explained then continued, "So tell me Selena, what's the rest of Alagaesia like?
Selena's eyes lit up as she replied, "It's beautiful. From the rolling plains between Palencar Valley and Uru'baen to the vast sandy Hadarac Desert to the green forests of Du Weldenvarden. This land is beautiful Hefring."
Her eyes darkened and her brows furrowed as she continued. "The occupants…not so much."
"What do you mean?" Hefring asked with increasing curiosity.
"I guess you have a right to know. Because of your ignorance this might come to a shock to you but Alagaesia is ruled by a tyrant king. Oppression spreads across the land and war threatens to break out. The peace you find in these forests does not exist elsewhere. Strict tax collectors, slavers and army recruiters invade people's homes and spread unhappiness." Selena said angrily, the rage in her voice surprising Hefring.
"Do you serve under this tyrant king?" Hefring asked, remembering what Selena had told him when they first met.
"Yes." She said. Her composure diminished and she averted her gaze away from Hefring, looking down at the floor.
"Why?" Hefring asked as gently as he could. The change that occurred in Selena warned him that he was treading on a very sensitive topic.
"I…I was young and stupid Hefring." She replied, her voice full of sadness. She was shaking her head in disbelief and regret as she continued, "I fell in love with the king's greatest servant. He forced me to swear in the ancient language that I would not disobey him. Now I'm just a tool." she struggled to say, choking on her emotion, tears building up in her brown eyes.
"I have done great evil Hefring." Selena managed to gasp before bursting into tears. She buried her head in between her knees as her whole body shook in tremors. She let out a constant sorrowful cry as if her whole depressed mind was spilling out of her mouth.
Hefring was taken aback with the woman's action for he had never seen anybody cry before. It made him uncomfortable and he was lost as to what he should do, so he just sat still and watched as Selena cried her heart out.
After what seemed like hours to Hefring, Selena finally calmed down slightly and stopped shaking. Tears were still streaming down her face when she looked up at him. Her nose and the areas around her eyes were red and swollen.
Hefring met her gaze and said the only thing that came to his mind. "You don't seem evil to me."
Selena let out a choking laugh. "Thank you I guess" she said, wiping the tears off of her face with her sleeve. "I've made a fool of myself haven't I?"
"No you haven't" Hefring replied with a sigh and then, unsure of what else he should say, pointed to the cot. "You should get some sleep you know."
"Yeah, I feel like I could pass out any moment." She replied, still rubbing her eyes.
"You can sleep on the bed" he gestured as he walked to the other side of the room.
Hefring picked up the bearskin rug and dragged it to a corner of the room. He collapsed onto his back and looked towards where Selena had fallen into the bed. He felt sorry for the woman but he could not relate with her. The only human interaction he's used to is with his master and that did not prepare him at all.
On any other night he probably would have stayed up thinking about the situation but he was thoroughly exhausted. He muttered "Losna du garjzla", extinguishing the lantern on the wall, and resigned himself to the darkness.