Ethelin said:
Hey CW, been reading since you started this, great story, and keep writing it. It is actually very entertaining, and the characters really have backgrounds that sound realistic. They all behave in a very human way, never being superheroes, and it is great to read a story like that. Just wanted you to know that I've been reading your story hour too.
Thank you for posting, Ethelin! I appreciate that you took the time to give your thoughts on the story. With readers like you out there, how could I even consider stopping writing?
Have a chapter, as a reward
Chapter 18
A dark, safe haven
Gilliam awoke due to pain, or more specifically, the pain in his still broken right arm. Right after stabilizing Kahleen with bandages, he had improvised with ripped pieces of cloth to make a sling for his arm, in order to keep it in one place. So far, it hadn't done much of a difference, since he had slept on hard rocks for who-knows-how-long.
Everything around him was practically shrouded in darkness, save for some strands of light that emerged from the entrance. The mercenary frowned as he glanced in the direction of where the entrance hole was, or should have been, as he could only see a large boulder obstructing their only escape means.
“The giant did that, boss” came a voice from in front of him. Gilliam turned to face Gon, who was sitting on a flat rock, leaning back against the stone wall. In the darkness, his wounds could be barely seen, with the blood shining off the tenuous light every now and then. To say that the man looked bad was an understatement. And his carefree attitude was all but gone, as well.
“Damn him, he plans to traps us here” the mercenary cursed, punching the ground with his working hand. That hurt, but not as much as the realization that they would starve to death soon, with the little supplies they had. “How's Kahleen?” he asked, looking over to where the shaman's body had been left resting.
Gon shifted uncomfortably on his seat. “She's still unconscious, boss” he explained. “Who knows when she'll regain her strength”. With that, he folded his arms across his chest, a movement that caused him to grimace in pain, and tried to relax into sleep.
Only then did Gilliam notice that there were two other voices in the cave. He got up from his earthly bed to face Vincent and Darius, who were conversing in low tones. Still, they were barely ten feet away, due to the cave's limited size, and Gilliam had no problem listening to their words.
“It's not that I'm ungrateful, Darius, but you should have kept running” Vincent was telling the other man sternly. Darius looked flustered for a moment, but returned to his serious posture in a second.
“And as I told you before, I leave
no one behind, Vincent” Darius reminded him with a frown. “You were as good as dead, had I decided not to stop for you”.
Vincent sighed, frustrated, and looked away. “Well, you almost got killed for doing that” he said in a lower tone, forcing Gilliam to strain his ears to hear. “And I'm honestly tired of people throwing their lives away for me”.
Darius only stared at him in silence, and kept doing that until the squire stood up, with some difficulty, and moved closer to Gon, assuming a resting position next to the sleeping man. Taking this as his cue to intervene, Gilliam got up and sat in front of Darius, taking Vincent's place. Darius had been looking away at the time, lost in thought, and didn't notice the change of speaker.
“You're funny”.
The soldier snapped his head back and looked slightly startled at hearing Gilliam's voice ahead of him. “And why is that?” he asked, serious.
Gilliam raised an eyebrow. “You're a soldier of the Honor Guard” he began. “Aren't soldiers supposed to follow orders from their superiors?”.
“It's not the same now as it was back in Seawall” Darius replied, sounding annoyed.
“Oh, so you don't see me as a figure of authority. Is that the difference?” Gilliam asked, intrigued.
Darius shook his head slowly at this. “No, it's not that” he said with a deep sigh. “I'm not going to follow orders if they make people like Vincent die”. Gilliam just remained silent, watching Darius carefully.
“So you would disobey Master Ender's command, if you deemed it incorrect?” the mercenary went on, at length.
The man hesitated, but for just an instant, before responding. “I would. If Master Ender wished Vincent dead, he'd have to go over my dead body to get to him” he said back with determination. Gilliam nodded, looking amused. “What's so funny?” Darius inquired.
Gilliam rubbed a hand on his face for a moment. “Nothing, it's just... I still find it funny”. He remained in his seat, glancing at Kahleen's unconscious form for a brief moment. “You acted like a knight, back then, when you stood your ground and shot at the giant, giving Vincent enough time to escape”.
Darius' expression turned into one of disbelief, dismissing the notion with a wave of his hand. “I'm no knight, Gilliam, only a soldier”. This drew a chuckle from the mercenary.
“You claim to be a soldier, yet you
acted like a knight. That's funny, in my view”.
“I thought knights were about following orders” Darius replied.
“As I came to realize not long ago, knights follow orders as long as they match with their code to protect others” Gilliam said.
Not knowing how to respond, Darius looked to the side, where Vincent was resting at the time. It didn't take long for him to formulate a response, however.
“Were you a knight once, Gilliam?”.
It was the mercenary's turn to remain silent, considering the question. “Yes” he replied simply, appearing serene at the time. In the dark cave, Darius could barely see his eyes, which seemed to be full of pain, but he was unsure from what.
“Why did you leave your knightly order?” Darius asked, sounding like he didn't expect an answer. Gilliam smiled, and to his surprise he gave him one.
“Because I followed orders”.
Darius left it at that, and assumed a more comfortable position (or at least relatively so, in the uneven hard ground), trying to get some sleep. Watching him for some time, Gilliam remained on his seat, his thoughts far, far away, focused on past memories.
Before he knew it, exhaustion overtook him once more, and he fell asleep.
This didn't last long, or at least no in Gilliam's perceptions. Someone was sticking something pointy against his right arm, saying some words, which sounded incoherent at first when he was coming back to consciousness.
“Wake up, sleepy head, wake up!” the voice was saying, sounding rather cheery and excited. It
had to be Gon. Then again, wasn't he severely wounded? Gilliam opened his eyes and saw the red-haired soldier smile at him from above, while jabbing what looked like a long wooden stick into his broken arm.
“Would you stop that?” he implored tiredly, and then he felt a sudden boost of energy coursing up from within. Gilliam straightened his back and looked at Gon curiously, then at his arm. “Huh. It doesn't hurt anymore” he observed, testing its movement warily, seeing that the bone appeared to be mended.
“It's a wand of curative magic” a serene, familiar voice commented from the side. Gilliam didn't have to turn his head to know it was Kahleen. “Glad to see you're alive and...” he was saying as he got up, but made a pause when he saw her standing up “... fully healed from your mortal wound?” he finished questioningly, finding it hard to believe his eyes.
The shaman gestured at Gon. “He found that on the corpse of a humanoid in the back of the cave” she explained. “Thankfully, it was designed to heal wounds, which helped in recuperating from my weakened state, along with your broken arm”. Meanwhile, Gon was moving around the limited space of the cave, using the wand as if it was a toy of sorts, swooshing it in the air in all directions.
“Quite the potent healing, even more powerful than the one I wield” she added, looking at Gon as she did. The mercenary raised an eyebrow at this. “How in the Hells did he get to use it?” he asked, sounding incredulous. Kahleen merely shrugged, and said nothing else.
“We don't know, either, but it did restore our injuries as well” Vincent said from his seat. Next to him, Darius nodded, and only then did Gilliam notice that the five of them were devoid of any evidence of a deadly combat with a giant, save for their respective scars. Kahleen would keep the wide diagonal one on her chest for a long time, and Vincent's side would look scarred as well.
As happy as he was to see all of this, Gilliam's mood turned somber quickly. “We still have the matter of the boulder, blocking our only exit”. This seemed to do the same for the rest, and they all exchanged looks. Even Gon stopped his tomfoolery to glance at the blocked exit with disdain.
All save for Kahleen, who was smiling a little bit. Darius looked at her, frowning. “What do you
know, Kahleen?”.
The shaman's outline shimmered in an orange energy without warning, and her outline began to change. Within seconds, she had turned from a humanoid shape into a small, furry quadruped.
Everyone stared at the creature that stood in Kahleen's place, stunned.
“I didn't know she could turn herself into a badger” Darius said, sounding like he was about to faint.
Although, in my defense, I did write the second two novels in about 4 months; roughly 125,000 words and 36 chapters. Being on a tight deadline can really motivate you to produce! ![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
