Tuesday, November 23, 2021

RoH: An Interruption

This is one of those concepts that I keep coming back to, so take a look through the Remnant of Heroes tag if you're curious about it. I originally began it as a series of short stories, with this guy wandering the world because he didn't really have any place to belong any more, and didn't want to be known for what he'd once been.

"How much farther?" called Master Cailiff as Remant rode past

Remant slowed his horse to answer. "Another hour to the next waystation, according to Jorral. Well before dark."

"That's not so bad," muttered Master Cailiff, his words pitched low for the benefit of his wife. She was sitting on the bench of the wagon beside him, a sturdy woman whose hair was just beginning to show some gray. 

Cailiff himself was older, his hair and beard turned to salt and pepper, his bearing dignified despite his corpulence. Remant wasn't bothered by him, but then Remant wasn't bothered by much of anyone. He was just a guard, paid to get the caravan safely to Doblim. What he might do when he arrived there, he wasn't sure. 

Ahead of them, Ikara gave a short, sharp whistle. Remant said, "Later," and rode ahead to see what the trouble was. 

The trouble was a child, unconscious by the side of the road. Darek, the only other male among the caravan guards, was standing several feet back, wrapping a bandage around his arm and muttering curses under his breath. 

"What happened?" called Remant, as he approached. 

"The child is a trap," said Darek, and spat as he tied off the bandage. "Or she's cursed. I tried to awaken her, and her shadow rose up and cut me." 

Ikara, sitting on her domek, nodded. "That's what happened." 

The domek was thick-skinned and heavy, strong and difficult to injure. It couldn't match a horse's speed, but then Ikara's job was to stay steady and call orders, not to charge into battle. She rode at the front of the caravan. 

"You just found her here?" asked Remant.

Ikara nodded. "I'm taking the caravan on," she said. "If you want to risk checking her, you can do that." She sounded as if she knew he wouldn't die, so Remant nodded back. "I'll tell you anything I learn," he said, swinging down off his horse as Darek mounted his and Ikara gave the signal to move along.

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