The Crimson Claymore (6 page)

He began to ponder if the old man could read minds with magic or see the happenings around the land with it. There was still question as to how the old man knew so much, but he didn’t feel up to asking.

“If you don’t wish to talk about it, I understand.” Starlyn twirled a flower in her hand between her fingers. It was a beautiful blonde lily that glittered from the starlight with the same hue as her glistening hair. She held it back to where she picked it from, and it seemed to mold itself back to life. When she removed her hand from the flower, it was attached back into the ground and life flowed through it once more.

“No…you are right. I need to talk about it. The nightmares haunt me every night, and it is hard to willingly think about that night.” Searon took a deep breath and looked back into her eyes. They were inviting, willing him to continue.

“What happened that night?”

“Forty months, three days, and twenty-one hours ago was when I woke up.” Searon shook with shivers.

“You keep track?” Starlyn asked, bewildered.

“No…I just know…somehow…I know exactly how long it has been, and yet I never think about it.”

“What happened?”

“I came home and ate dinner with my wife as I always would. After dinner, I went into my son’s room and kissed him goodnight. It was like every other night. I didn’t suspect…I…there was no warning,” Searon brushed his hands through his thick brown hair. “That night…draeyks broke into our home and slaughtered my family. I watched them as they mercilessly murdered my family while I tried to fight back. Never had I faced a draeyk before and thought they were only a campfire story. By the time I had killed all the draeyks, my family was already dead. Since that moment, I have vowed to hunt down all the draeyks I could find and slaughter them one by one,” Searon said, quickly feeling the weight lift from off of his chest. Tears filled his eyes, but he quickly dabbed them away, not wanting to shed any more tears over that night. The past would not change, but he could look forward to the future.

“I am sorry you had to endure that; it must have been terrible,” Starlyn whispered.

“If I dwell on it too much, it only gets worse. I try to stay focused and keep going forward. Nothing can be done about the past, but I can do something about the future. I will keep fighting draeyks until I die,” he said with anger replacing his grief.

“Something doesn’t make sense,” Starlyn said.

“What?”

“You had never seen draeyks before that night. They had not been a problem in nearby villages? There were no rumors of them in the area?”

“No…humans were oblivious to their existence before. We knew only of daerions…and they are long extinct now. History books told us of the Battle of Lenor Lake where we defeated the daerions. Humans only battle each other, and that was why I left the cities in place of a small village.”

“For what reason were you attacked first?”

Searon looked at her, puzzled, and dropped his eyes down deep in thought. He hadn’t ever thought of it before now. Still now, his family’s slaughter rattled in his brain with every detail he could fathom, but his mind still wouldn’t delve into the reasons it might have happened.

“I do not know…it wasn’t just me…our entire village was destroyed. I think I may be the only survivor. After burying my family, I traveled back to the village to find it in ruins. There were a few draeyks still lingering there, and I slaughtered them before leaving, never to turn back.”

“It seems our friends were searching for something in that village. I wonder if they ever found it,” she whispered.

She had given him something new to ponder, and he lost himself in thought. There was a lot of wisdom in her words, and he realized that men were more people of action while women thought about the bigger picture. Perhaps it would be good to have her travel with them.

“We are alike, you and I; both of our families have been lost to the draeyks.” Starlyn wiped a tear that threatened to fall down her face.

“It is good to have a friend,” Searon nodded.

He rose to his feet at the same time as she did. She stepped closer to him, and he flinched as she gave him a hug before she disappeared into the night. The wizard stepped into the area and gave a thumbs-up before lying down in the grass to watch the stars. Searon propped himself up against a large smooth stone that rested near the fire before he closed his eyes for darkness to consume him.

Searon awoke in the middle of the night startled as Starlyn slid behind him to lie down. She put her arms around his waist, sliding under his armor to feel his fit abs. At first, it made Searon uncomfortable, and he shivered at the sudden affection. But after a moment, he grew fond of the closeness and smiled, closing his eyes once again. It had been a long time since he had known the comfort of lying down next to a woman. He wasn’t ready for a relationship, or even anything close anytime soon, but it was still nice to have someone that close to him. When he closed his eyes yet again, the cruel nightmares didn’t haunt him anymore that night.

Chapter 6

S
un rising through the trees created a blazing yellow light that blinded Searon. He woke with a yawn and realized for the first time that he had woken up after the sunrise. It truly had been a relaxing night after Starlyn joined him. There was no recollection of nightmares for him from the previous night, and he smiled, tossing his arm behind him. He found that the space was empty, and he shivered turning around to see Starlyn was nowhere in sight. She could have just wanted some comfort in the middle of the night, as their previous conversation most likely stirred bad memories for the both of them.

Reluctantly he rose to his feet and stretched out his muscles. It was something he tried to accomplish every morning to prevent strains. He stopped in his tracks to watch an exotic blue-and-red butterfly flutter by. It landed on a low branch in a nearby tree and flapped its wings a few times. The creature appeared to not have a care, and Searon often wished he had such a carefree life. He marveled at its simple beauty as it flapped its wings to hover for a moment before traveling north. His eyes continued to follow the creature until it flew past Karceoles.

Searon stalked over to the wizard, who was staring north after the butterfly. His zylek was in his right hand and his pipe in his left. The pipe wasn’t hot, as he wasn’t smoking it but simply holding it. Searon stood next to him and looked into the sky where Karceoles was looking. There was a thin trail of smoke rising through the trees into the sky in the far distance. It was barely noticeable through the morning mist, but it was still clearly smoke.

“Draeyks?” Searon asked.

He didn’t imagine they were that close to the settlements, as he thought they were still several leagues away and the smoke came from a league or two, max. The smoke that rose in the distance wasn’t fresh but a smoldering remnant of a previous fire. It meant there was something traveling out there.

“I don’t think so; that isn’t the location I remember from the map of their settlements,” Karceoles said.

“We ought to check it out then. Where is Starlyn?”

He looked around in hopes to spot her somewhere, but there wasn’t any sign. The last he had seen of her was in the middle of the night. She hadn’t given him a reason to distrust her, but he still was unsure about her.

“I am unsure; she was not here when I awoke this morning.” Karceoles wrinkled his nose.

“Well, I don’t think we should wait on her; if that smoke comes from either humans or kheshlars, there may be more allies out there for us.” Searon fidgeted his hand around the hilt of his sword, touching the sharp rubies.

He was ready for another battle and could taste the blood on his lips. It had been far too long, at least for him, and he looked forward to the next time he could slash his claymore through the air. His mind would wander too much when he would keep still.

“You are right. Let’s go, keep an eye out for the babe,” Karceoles attached his zylek to his pouch and nodded his head.

The two saddled up, jerking the reins of their horses to trot forward. It was still early morning, and fog clouded the horizon. Condensation covered the light grass on the ground, and their horses were very gentle and quiet as they galloped. The morning air felt cool through their nostrils, almost too cold, as Searon began to shiver.

Suddenly, the fog cleared a small area, and someone appeared before them. Searon raised his claymore while Karceoles lifted his zylek and took aim. As the fog thinned, they recognized Starlyn standing before them, hammer raised and stained with blood. She had heat rushing through her body, and her face held rosy cheeks and luscious red lips that Searon found tempting.

“Humans, fighting draeyks, they need help,” she gasped.

Three draeyks lay on the ground, dead before her feet, and she swiftly attached her hammer to her sash. She faced north and glanced back to the two of them before dashing forward back through the fog.

“Let’s go!” Karceoles called.

Starlyn kept well ahead of them despite her being without an animal to ride. They were blindly galloping into the fog and had to trust their horses’ instincts that followed Starlyn’s scent. His horse, Stripes, suddenly stopped unexpectedly, and he was tossed from the saddle where he collided with Starlyn. The two tumbled onto the ground with Starlyn falling on top. Searon’s eyes never made it all the way up to her face, and Starlyn rolled her eyes before getting off of him. He froze in place for a moment after she was gone before shaking his head from the memory and rising to his feet. She pulled her hammer from her sash, and Searon followed suit, grabbing his claymore from its scabbard.

In the distance, Searon noticed a clearing through the fog and watched as a human was struck down by a draeyk. There were two dead humans sprawled on the ground now among four dead draeyks. There were still two humans left standing that were putting on a fierce battle against the last three creatures. The last two warriors both battled without helms. Searon figured they had been caught by surprise or their helms had been knocked to the ground during the battle. One, with straight black hair that nearly touched his shoulders and a clean-cut face, held a higher skill with a weapon than the other. His fighting companion wasn’t as skilled and held an axe instead of a broadsword. He blocked attacks fiercely with the wind tossing his thick brown dreadlocks across his face.

The two fought well with each other and had obvious practice in teamwork. However, the man in dreadlocks that held an axe began to slip on his strikes. He injured two of the draeyks in the shoulder, but they snarled and jumped at him using their own axes to slice him down. His voice cried out in pain just before his body went limp.

Searon jerked his horse’s reins, causing the animal to dash forward. He looked to his side and noticed Starlyn next to him with her hammer drawn and a fierce look upon her face.

The lone warrior struck hard with his sword, holding it only with his right hand. It was shaped like a broadsword but seemed to have a smaller blade allowing him to maneuver the sword with only one hand. He stabbed at one of the draeyks while punching another one. The third he was able to strike down after a series of blows, leaving him only two left. One jumped forward and struck his head with the backside of the axe, and the warrior fell to the ground.

Searon’s stallion slid in front of the two draeyks before they could give a deathblow. He blocked their attacks and was joined by Starlyn at his side. The two battled perfectly together against the draeyks. Their strikes were almost in unison with each other, and they switched opponents. When they switched, it confused the creatures, and their guard was let down. It was long enough that both were able to deliver deathblows at nearly the same time. Searon’s blow came from overhead, slicing the scaly creature’s skull in half while Starlyn’s was an uppercut that shattered the creature’s jaw with her hammer. Starlyn turned to Searon and grinned, causing him to smirk back before nodding.

Karceoles finally arrived next to Searon as he got off his horse to hold the young warrior up. He checked his pulse and found the man was still alive. There were cuts across his arms and a stab wound into his stomach. Searon looked up to the wizard.

“Can you heal him?”

“No, I’m not that type of wizard. Most of my energy I focused on learning flame, not healing. I can heal to an extent, but most of it will be external,” Karceoles said.

“Perhaps now would be a good time to learn,” Searon rumbled.

Starlyn moved closer to the human warrior and began tracing her hands across his wounds. She ran her fingers across his stomach, arms, and face. They had stripped him of his armor to his cotton clothing underneath that was stained red. His abdomen was fit and scrawnier than Searon, but he still held strength enough for battling. The wounds weren’t too deep, but his injuries were still threatening if he didn’t have medical help.

“I can heal these, but we need to find some herbs. Some can be found in this meadow, but others we need to head back to the trees for,” Starlyn said.

“There is a forest to the west, not far,” Karceoles said.

“Come, Searon,” Starlyn grabbed Searon’s hand and nearly dragged him to his feet.

He felt the cool of her soft skin touching his now that his gauntlets were attached to his sash. A warming smile graced Starlyn’s lips as her eyes met his. It was strange having another hand in his, and he looked at it reluctantly before glancing to the wizard.

“Will you watch him?” he asked.

Glancing back down to her hand, he noticed how much paler it was than his own. It was cool in his hand but it wasn’t cold, and he found he liked the presence of it.

“I’ll be the babysitter this time, but hurry, there’s not time for
fun
,” Karceoles glared at the kheshlar, who only smiled back at him.

Searon slid back onto his horse, and surprisingly, Starlyn jumped on behind him and clasped her arms around his waist before resting her head on his shoulder. A half smile found his lips before he tugged the reins, making Stripes gallop off.