Chapter 26:

The Journey

Sloan's eyes were solemn as Roran finished his question. His adventure was captured in his eyes, and the whole thing was retold, his feelings and thoughts, his hopes and dreams, all in the span of a few seconds. He blinked and the images disappeared. Roran stared intently at the currently solemn man, and discerned almost every human emotion, and more, in his movements and gestures. Sloan's mouth also showed his feelings, and Roran saw it as a deep, dark slash across his face. The rest of his features were scrunched together, as if he were a small puppy. Sloan's eyes finally stopped roaming, and focused right on Roran's own, and there he found a tunnel to everything, the story of Sloan's life. He had a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach, one that ate at him. He shook it off, and asked Sloan one more time, "What happened to you?", he opened his mouth a few times without sound, and then he began his tale.

"It all began that night...the night that Byrd was murdered, I escaped from the village, and met up with the Ra'zac. I stayed awake until I could escape without detection, and so that those Ra'zac beasts could execute whatever plot they had formed. I exited my home on the side door, and skirted all the sentinels as best I could. I stayed to the side of the Anora River, and a jackrabbit scared me out of my wits when I crossed the main road. After I regained my breathing, I continued my journey, continuing my attempt to stay out of sight of any of the villagers. My only goal was stealth, not harm.

"Oh, are you sure? Then why was Byrd murdered with a knife in his back, hm? You killed him for spite, I may not know what, but I do know that you're to blame for his wife's grief, and because of it, I may die, too."

"No, I didn't. But before I delve into the story again, why is Birgit trying to kill you?"

"Because Byrd was killed, and she said that somehow it was my fault, like I had a hand in the crime."

"That is unfortunate, that such a hard worker, and such a powerful woman would be reduced to killing you for revenge. Either way, I did not kill him, I promise. No, I swear on Katrina's life tha-"

"No, don't ever swear on anyone's life but your own, especially Katrina's."

"Alright then, I apologize for that. I wasn't thinking. Where was I, now? Ah, yes, alright, I swear on my life that I did not do anything to harm any of the watch men, especially Byrd. I stayed a very good distance away from them, and attempted stealth. The dead sticks lying all over did not help me at all. Plenty of them snapped under my feet, and I probably spent a good hour and a half moving around a quarter of the village."

"What? It would take me ten minutes to move around half the town. How in the world could it take you that long?"

"Remember the sticks? I would break one with every other step, so I would stay still for a couple of minutes each time I was clumsy enough to do that. After I was able to get the forest path, I followed it back to the bend in the Anora, where it is the thinnest and shallowest. I had to follow the river upstream for a few minutes, and around midnight I reached their camp. As I approached, the Ra'zac exited their tent, clicking to each other before they reached me. As they came to a stop in front of me, they said this, 'you will obey everything we tell you without fall, or elssse you will sssuffer.'

"I didn't reply, but quivered, uncertain of the oncoming doom that awaited me if I didn't do what they instructed me. After that, they spoke to me of what their plan was, and that they wanted me to stay where they left me. Then, they ushered me into their encampment, and I sat with the remaining human soldiers. After what seemed like hours of awkward and discontinuing speech, I managed to convince them to let me, eh, do my business, but I actually scurried back across the Anora. I followed the same path, and crouched low. I made my way to Horse's home, where I waited in the trees to see what was happening. I got there just in time to witness the Ra'zac and soldiers burst into the room. I could barely see from where I was, but I certainly heard your hammer crashing upon the soldiers. Then I saw one of them climb out of the house with Katrina, and the other halfway out of the window. The first saw me, and ran past me, but not before telling me 'I would pay for my disobedience.'

"The second leaped from the window, and I went back to camp with it. We went quickly, and me being burly at the time, it was quite difficult for me to keep pace. We finally reached the camp, and saw the dim light of the barely live fire. The tents sparkled with a dark and ominous glow that seemed to foreshadow what would come next. Just as the Ra'zac mounted, one of the soldiers raged out of one the tents, fuming at the cruel beasts. He complained that they were always moving, always working, and the other three felt the same way. He also called themselves 'slaves to the monsters', when they had only wanted to serve the king. The Ra'zac and the soldiers argued for almost half an hour, and me and Katrina sat huddled together as far away from the Lethrblaka as possible."

"What happened then?" Roran cringed after he said that, for a loud crash and a bloodcurdling scream penetrated the walls of the tent they were in. Sloan did the same, but Roran didn't think it was from what was going on outside.

"I would rather tell you and Katrina together, when time isn't as crucial as it currently is. Katrina would like to know what happened after Helgrind." Roran nodded his head in understanding, and stood up, and Sloan did the same. Almost in perfect unison, they shook their heads to rid themselves of the terrible nature of the tale that they had both experienced. After that, he felt a strong bond to Sloan, despite the bitterness that had crossed between them before they left for Surda. He held out his hand in an offer of friendship, no, in kinship, as a father and son. Sloan looked him in the eyes, and firmly grasped it, accepting his offer, locking them in a bond that would become almost indestructible, even in death.