Chapter Nineteen – The Cleansing of Darnuth Keep by Kelly D. Tolman

Posted by admin on February 2, 2009

The Cleansing of Darnuth Keep is a fantasy novel describing the adventures of Colter Halfspear as he becomes a man and an initiate of magical powers.

The day was still very young, and it seemed a simple thing to drag the carcass off the mountain.  Iven and I lashed the remains of the beast between our horses and headed down the hill.  We went perhaps only a half a kilometer or so when I spotted a broken branch that intrigued me.

“What do you make of this,” I asked Iven.  He glanced over it, but I could tell he wasn’t sure.

“Could be anything,” he said.

“Here, you take this.”  I handed him my rope.  “I want to follow this trail a little ways.  Unless I am mistaken, that looks like a footprint.”

It may have been the thought of a decent meal, or perhaps just a desire to get off that mountain, but Iven consented and left me to wander the wild by myself.  I followed that trail alone.  It wasn’t difficult, and within a matter of a few meters I determined that indeed they were footprints, and I was reminded of Pascalli’s warning about rain.

I followed the trail another kilometer before I saw a girl of perhaps ten or eleven summers with long chestnut hair.  She must have heard my horse and feared the beast had returned because she panicked and ran.  Her blue dress, much nicer than those most farmers’ daughters wore was torn and muddy.

“Wait!” I called.  “Stop! I’ve come to help.”

At the sound of my voice she stopped and fell down tired.  Her right arm had been badly cut, but the bleeding had stopped.  “Take it easy.  I can help with those wounds.”  I gently bandaged her arm and gave her a piece of dried meat to chew on.  I carefully lifted her onto my horse.  “I’m Colter.  What happened?”

“That thing tried to eat me,” she replied.  Tears of relief and exhaustion streamed down her face.

“Everything will be fine.  What’s your name?” I asked.

“Brevedia, but everyone calls me Breva.  Is it still out there?”

“We killed it, my friends and I.  Are you alone?”

Her mood brightened as I pointed the horse out of the mountains toward her farm.  “My brother came with me to pick the early berries, but we didn’t find any.  We lost sight of the farm.  Then it found us.  It dragged us both into the woods, but I managed to get away.  I don’t know what happened to Brorick.”

“I haven’t seen him.”  Something in my heart told me that Pascalli had found his remains.

She consumed every scrap of food I offered her.  Breva lived at a farm a few kilometers beyond the first one, where Pascalli and Iven had gone, but I would have time to catch up with them if we hurried.

“What are you doing in the mountains?” she asked as we rode.

“We are riding to the western empire.  One of my friends has a family in the west,” I said.

“Mamma says that only ruffians and outlaws ride in the wild, but you don’t seem like an outlaw.”

“I’m not an outlaw, at least not that I know of.”  We laughed together, but in the back of my mind I wondered about Pascalli’s warning that imperial soldiers might be looking for me.

The milk cow looked healthy and strong, but the farm felt far too quiet as I rode up.  I smelled a wisp of smoke from the cooking fire, but no sounds or signs of movement beyond.  Even the chickens rested dolefully beneath scrubby bushes.  Breva had fallen asleep on the ride.  I shook her awake when we reached the house.

“Mamma!” she shouted. “Papa, I’m home!  I’m home!”

As if struck by lightning, the entire farm erupted with her tiny cries of joy.  The farmhouse door flew open and a haggard looking man with a worn hat and dirty trousers stepped out.  Behind him a plump woman with a thick bun of graying brown hair edged her way out.

“Brevedia, Brevedia, my dear!” she cried as she flung her arms around her daughter.  “We thought you were lost forever, come and hug me my sweet.”

I thought they would smother the poor girl with their hugs and kisses and joy.  It was a long time before anyone noticed me, and I finally decided to keep to my plan and leave when her father addressed me.

“Come inside, lad, for a moment and rest.  You’ve brought life and meaning back to us.  You’ve brought our Breva home.  Jiora, fetch something to eat for the lad.”

Jiora promptly ushered me into the house and placed a fresh baked loaf of dark bread and a bowl of butter before me.  I had not tasted such fare in many long markets, and I ate like a starving man.

“You’ve been in the wild a long time,” observed the farmer.  I noticed he had a sharp, thinking mind.  “I’m Delvin.  We came here to homestead before the Kaarum came south.”

“My friends call me Scratch.  I’ve been traveling since the battle with the Kaarum near Havensod,” I replied.  “Did you hear about that?”

“Yes, we heard.  A lot of soldiers were missed afterwards,” he said.  “Scratch is an odd sort of name.”

“I didn’t desert,” I replied, perhaps a little too defensively.

“Of course you didn’t desert,” said Jiora.  “Not that it would matter if you had.  I’ll agree that Scratch is a funny name for such a handsome lad, but it’s none of my affair where a person gets their name.  They handled that battle something awful.  My brother was lost there, and not a copper penny did they give her for the widow’s due.  He was a right honorable man, too.”

“I’ve made no accusation, son.  You’ve done a noble thing today.  We’re forever in your debt,” said Delvin.  “Why don’t you stay here tonight?  It’s getting late for travel.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.  I was apprenticed shortly after the battle.  It’s my master and his friend who will be waiting for me,” I said.

“You are welcome to stay,” offered Jiora.  “If they use the road they will have to pass this way on their way out.”

“I don’t want them to worry.  I’d like to find them before dark.”

“At least take some food with you,” suggested Delvin.  “No point wandering the hills on an empty stomach.

“Take the rest of this loaf,” suggested Jiora.  “Breva will fill your canteens at the well.  Run along girl!  I know we put up extra cheese that’s aged just right by now.”

“I’ll fetch one for him,” said Delvin.  “Find Brorick’s jacket.  He won’t be needing it, and the lad’s buckskin looks the tatters.”

Jiora handed me her son’s jacket and a tear caught in her eye.  I hardly felt I could accept the gift.  “It will do me good to see you in it,” she said.
“You look nothing like him, but I imagined he would grow to be something like yourself.”

Brevedia brought me my canteens and horse and hugged me tight.  She held me the way Corbetta did when she was frightened.  “You saved my life.  I’ve never been so frightened of anything.”

“You’re home now.  No point worrying about what’s done.”  She noticed the scars on my arms and stared at them.  “Now you know why they call me Scratch.  Stay in sight of the farmhouse, and do as your pa and ma say.”

Copyright 2008 Kelly David Tolman

On to The Cleansing of Darnuth Keep Fantasy Novel Chapter Twenty

Back to The Cleansing of Darnuth Keep Fantasy Novel Chapter Eighteen

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