Tales From New Otrin (The Nomad) (3 page)

“Sheenja,” Brandgurt calls desperately. “Sheenja,
it’s me, Brandgurt. Don’t you recognize me?!”

“He doesn’t understand that,” Shaun says. “He’s dead.
Now fight back before he finishes you and my sister sends me back
to Valhalla. I’ll be the laughingstock of the underworld for
months!”

“Looks like you’re running out of choices,” Dawn says
to Shaun mockingly. “Admit defeat and I will let your champion live
a life of shame but a life nonetheless.”

“Not a chance, sister!” Shaun beams back. “Brandgurt,
finish him!”

Brandgurt lets Sheenja’s sword slide off of his and
he uses the moment to get a blow in with his elbow. Sheeenja is
barely fased and turns back around to face Brandgurt. With little
effort, Sheenja raises the sword and slices it close to Brandgurt,
knicking a piece of his elbow pad.

“Sheenja!” Brandgurt tries again.

“Stop playing around, Brandgurt!” Shaun yells
nervously, afraid Brandgurt will throw the fight out of fear.

Sheenja swings again and Brandgurt moves to block the
blow with his sword but Sheenja’s energy is too much for Brandgurt
to hold onto the sword and the sword is flung a few feet away and
slides down into a trail then down into a ravine.

“Alright, sister, I think we’re ready to throw the
fight,” Shaun says, his voice sounding equal parts annoyed and
embarrassed.

“That offer is no longer good,” Dawn quips. “Your
champion is to die an honorable death at the hands of mine.”

Shaun looks to Brandgurt, Brandgurt’s face erupting
in sweat and a panicked expression appearing. Shaun shrugs and says
coolly, “Should have fought harder.”

Sheenja whips his tail out and it slides hard under
Brandgurt’s feet, tossing him in the air and forcing him back down
hard. He looks up and sees the glare of the purple sun off of
Sheenja’s blade. It comes down hard and Brandgurt barely slides
away from the tip of the sword. He looks to the ravine, where his
sword landed. It’s too far away. He won’t be able to retrieve it in
time. Sheenja will easily be able to get him in the back and he
knows it. Sheenja strikes again, this time his sword comes down on
Brandgurt’s armor concealing his forearm. The blade penetrates the
armor and slices its way into Brandgurt’s skin. He lets out a
deafening scream as the cutting motion forces him down to his
knees.

“Die with honor,” Shaun says to Brandgurt calmly.
Brandgurt hardly hears him, the majority of his focus being on the
sword lodged in his arm.

“Finish him, my champion,” Dawn calls to
Sheenja.

Brandgurt stands up suddenly and grabs onto the
handle of the sword. He uses all of his strength to lift it out of
his arm while Sheenja continues to thrust it further in. Brandgurt
starts to make progress, slowly lifting it out. He lets out a
victorious, relieved scream upon finally pulling it out. She stops
for a moment to peer down at his arm and see the damage done. But
he doesn’t have long. Sheenja quickly strikes again, the cutting
edge of the blade coming down just late enough that Brandgurt has
time to leap away. He fumbles on the ground but upon looking up, he
realizes he has landed close to his sword. He lunges forward but
can hear Sheenja in pursuit close behind him.

“What is happening?!” Dawn screams violently. “How
has he managed to recover?!”

“He hasn’t… yet,” Shaun says with quiet optimism. He
watches the fight rage, closely inspecting Brandgurt and trying to
guess at his odds of winning.

“Finish him!” Dawn screams to Sheenja.

Brandgurt lands on top of the sword and fumbles with
it while trying to grab onto the handle. He pulls it up and sees
Sheenja nearly on top of him. Sheenja strikes the blade hard but
Brandgurt quickly blocks it with his. He pushes the blade off while
trying to get to his feet. He notices that he is starting to grunt
while exerting all the energy he is capable of.

“Kill him!” Dawn screams desperately.

A look of ruthlessness appears in Sheenja’s pupils
and he suddenly pushes back with even more strength. Sheenja pushes
back hard and forces Brandgurt down. He hits the ground hard and
the sword falls out of his hand. “Sheenja, don't!” Brandgurt pleads
helplessly. The attempt fails and Sheenja is unphased by
Brandgurt’s plea. Sheenja slams his sword down next to Brandgurt
and Brandgurt is able to recover quickly enough, grabbing up the
sword back into his hand and slicing it through Sheenja’s abdomen.
Sheenja steps back and peers back at Brandgurt, confused but his
body remaining frozen.

“Is… is that it?” Brandgurt asks. Be stands up and
upon getting to his feet, his ankle snaps and he collapses from the
injury and lets out a surprised yelp.

“Finish him, Sheenja,” Dawn commands. She lifts her
hand and waves it. Sheenja watches her closely and turns to
Brandgurt when she is finished. Sheenja lifts his sword high and
crashes it back down hard on the ground near Brandgurt. It gets
lodged into the dirt and he attempts to lift it. From the ground,
Brandgurt brings his sword up and slices Sheenja across the neck,
his scaly head separating from the rest of his body and falling to
the grassy ground. Brandgurt breathes a sigh of relief and for a
moment forgets about the injury to his foot.

Shaun lets out an exclaimed shout and comes to
Brandgurt’s side. “You did it!” he yells. “I can’t believe you
actually killed the reptile!”

“Can we do something about my ankle?” Brandgurt asks,
ignoring Shaun’s excited exclamations.

“It can’t be,” Dawn says in despair. She floats over
to Sheenja’s body and says, “My champion. You can’t have lost.”

“He did,” Brandgurt states affirmatively, using his
sword to help him stand. “Now one of you better do something about
my goddamned ankle!”

Shaun and Dawn stand together and start to laugh at
Brandgurt’s outburst. “Don’t worry, mortal,” Dawn says. “We had our
fun. Now we will fix you up and send you on your way.”

“What do you say he should get, sister?” Shaun asks,
looking to Dawn lovingly.

“Perhaps a shiny shield?” Dawn replies.

“No, no. That’s boring. Do you really want to do a
weapon again? I feel like we do that every time,” Shaun
replies.

“You bring up a very good point, brother,” Dawn says
back. “How about… a potion?”

“You were reading my mind.” Shaun smiles
knowingly.

“What are you two going on about?” Brandgurt asks,
the siblings sensing annoyance in his voice.

“You’re going to feel your ankle getting better right
about… now.” Dawn waves her hand over Brandgurt and he suddenly
feels his ankle recovering rapidly and he can then stand on it
without the support of the sword. “And you will also be given A
Gift of the Twins. A potion to use when you are in desperate need
of it.” Shaun tosses Brandgurt a vial of purple liquid.

“What does it do?” Brandgurt asks nervously, looking
the bottle over.

“That is for you to find out. And for us to watch,”
Dawn says. A cloud of dust circles around them and the two of them
disappear into it. Brandgurt is left standing alone, still
entranced by the vial.

Author’s Note: Thank you for reading and you can be
sure that you’ll see more of Brandgurt in the future in his own
standalone stories as well as crossovers with the rest of the
Yesterlands gang. In the meantime, check out the other stories in
The Nomad series and make sure to leave a review if you liked what
you read!

To any questions or comments you may have regarding
the story, leave them in the form of a review and in the next book
to come out, a reply will be given at the end.