Spear and Shadow

PART 1

He stared down a dark hall and swore. Loudly. Of course he couldn't even die right. His mother stood on one side and a faceless shadow stood on the other. He moved to walk towards her when the shadow spoke.
"I wouldn't go there if I were you."
He turned and it stared at him.
"That thing isn't your mother. At least, not anymore."
He glared.
"What would you know about it?"
It shrugged.
"More than you."
He shook his head and turned back to his mother. She smiled and held out her arms.
"Come on Arvin. Don't you want to be with your family?"
He stopped.
"My family."
She nodded.
"They're all here with me."
He sighed and walked towards the shadow.
"You aren't my mother. My family are waiting for me in the real world."
She screamed. An inhuman sound tore through the hall and he fell to his knees. The shadow raised its hand.
"Silence your screaming."
Silence filled the hall and he turned.
Where his mother had been a moment before there was a large black hound with glowing orange eyes. It stared at him with predatory focus. The shadow spoke again.
"I can offer you a second chance. A life of them. Unlike the hound, I can get you to your family."
He narrowed his eyes.
"What's the catch?"
The shadow laughed.
"The catch is blood."
"What does that mean?"
"You'll have to drink blood. Frequently. In exchange for this you will be faster, stronger, and more perceptive than a normal person. You will also be unable to die."
He nodded as he stood.
"Fine. Deal."
The shadow nodded in return.
"Deal."
It darted towards him and he grunted as he fell to the floor.

He woke up and screamed. He was impaled on a large wooden pole atop the castle walls.
"Shut up. You want someone to hear you?"
He craned his neck to see the girl who had stabbed him smiling up at him.
"Take a deep breath and pull yourself up and off the pole."
He took a deep breath and pulled himself up the pole. White hot bolts of agony shot through his whole body as he slowly slid up the pole. He finally came free and slammed onto the floor. The girl knelt beside him and poked at the hole in his chest.
"You're healing, you'll be fine."
He sat up and almost threw up from the pain. Not that he currently had a stomach to throw up from.
"You look like you're going to throw up."
He glared at her.
"You stabbed me."
She nodded and smiled proudly.
"Yes I did."
"Why?"
She stood and grinned.
"I'll make you a deal, you help me get out of here and I'll tell you all about why I stabbed you."
He thought for a moment. He was going to leave anyway so an extra hand was going to be helpful, but.....her? He groaned as he stood and poked at his stomach. The hole there was completely healed. Everything but the scars from where he'd been stabbed in Angvang and where the girl had stabbed him.
"You'll keep your scars. They never fade."
He looked at her and she sighed.
"Look, do you accept my deal or not?"
He shrugged.
"How can I be sure you won't betray me?"
She began to respond and then stopped.
"All you have is my word."
He sighed.
"Fine. I'll accept your deal."
She smiled.
"Thank you."
He nodded.
"Whatever. What's your name?"
She tilted her head.
"My name?"
He rolled his eyes.
"Yes. Your name. What people call you."
She glared.
"Yes, I know what a name is. My name's Nora. And you are?"
"My name's Arvin."
She grinned.
"Nice to meet you."
She stuck out her hand and he sighed as he took it and they shook.
"Nice to meet you too."

They strolled through Mournvars streets, heading towards the south gate. Nora tapped his shoulder as he walked and he sighed.
"What is it?"
"Shouldn't we be sneaking? Or at least attempting to be stealthy?"
He shook his head.
"We don't have to worry. I saw this all the time in Angvang, people take a city, town or fort and then they don't bother to keep it defended and a stronger force takes it back."
They reached the gates and he froze. The man who had killed him leaned against the gate and smiled at them.
"Oh. You were strong enough to get a spirit. That's interesting. And Nora, you're trying to leave as well?"
She shook and Arvin stood in front of her.
"Are we going to have a problem?"
The man snorted.
"No. You aren't leaving. Either of you. So there's no problem."
He tensed as the man pushed off the gate and crossed his arms.
"However, your bravery does impress me. One of you may go."
He patted Nora on her back.
"Go. I'll get out another way."
She shook her head.
"No. It's fine. You go. None of this is anything to do with you anyway."
He glared. Nora had stabbed him, gotten him killed and had him separated from his family. She'd been among those that had invaded his home, the home he'd fought so hard to protect. And yet...
"What does it matter to you anyway? You have an army, why does she need to stay?"
The man shrugged.
"Because she's important. An invaluable asset, if you will."
He clenched his fist.
"She is coming with me. Get out of the way."
The man stared for a moment before chuckling.
"Alright. You take her. I'll come to collect her when I need her."
The man stepped aside and gave him a smile that chilled his blood. He grabbed Noras wrist and led her out. The man called out after them.
"I'll see you two later."
He sped up.

They got no more than two miles before she pulled her wrist from his hand and shoved him.
"What're you playing at?"
He titled his head.
"What do you mean?"
"You should have just let him keep me."
He crossed his arms.
"And why's that?"
She sighed.
"It would have been so much easier for you. Now he'll hunt you. For ever."
He sat on a tree stump and thought for a moment.
"You'd rather I left you there?"
She sighed.
"Yes."
He nodded.
"I see. Alright, say for a moment, that I did leave you there. What would of awaited you?"
She stared at him.
"Wat do you mean?"
He sighed.
"I saw this all the time in Angvang. Prisoner of war camps mostly. The people there were abused. I don't mean the occasional beating or lashing, I mean tortured. They, probably more than anyone, knew the true definition of pain. And they had a look in their eyes. You have the exact same look."
She shook her head.
"You're wrong."
He tilted his head.
"Oh, am I now? Tell me, why were you so hesitant to leave? The further we were from the gate, the more you wanted to leave. But the closer we got. The more hesitant you were. Why?"
She glared.
"Because I knew something would go wrong."
He laughed.
"Well you certainly weren't wrong were you? Something certaintly did go wrong. We met someone, who by your reaction and fear for my safety, as well as your own, is very, very dangerous. But you wanted to leave, why? Because you were bored? Because you had moral qualms with his methods?"
She laughed.
"Oh, you think you're morally better than me?"
He shook his head.
"On the contrary, I've probably done things just as bad as you, maybe worse. You promised me you'd explain things. Yet here we stand, a safe distance away amd you won't explain a damn thing."
She gave a sly grin.
"You get us to another town and I'll tell you everything."
He narrowed his eyes.
"You don't get to change the deal. You can explain everything right now."
She tilted her head.
"Who says?"
He stood and she flinched. It was barely noticeable but still, she flinched. He sighed.
"Fine. You explain when we get to a town. That's fine."
She gave an uneasy nod and began to follow him.
"Either way, we need to find a place to rest for the night."
She nodded and gave a small smile.
"It's about to rain."

Sure enough, ten minutes later they were huddled in a small cave as the rain hammered the ground. He stared down the cave and narrowed his eyes. Deep claw marks marred the walls and burn marks peppered the ceiling and floor. He groaned.
"Oh great. This is a Dragons lair."
Nora scoffed.
"How'd you know that?"
"See the scorches and scratches on the walls? They're a dead giveaway."
She laughed.
"Alright, how big is it?"
He shrugged.
"Two or three metres tall, five or six metres long. Judging by the scratches on the ceiling and walls."
She nodded.
"Right, but I thought you said that the scratches were claw marks."
He nodded.
"Yeah, the scratches on the floor and lower walls."
She sighed.
"Isn't it going to come back?"
He shook his head.
"Dragons are mostly nocturnal creatures. We should be in the clear."
"How do you know all this?"
He sighed as he sat down.
"I was assigned to my unit as a beast hunter. Dragons, Direwolves, Trolls, Great beasts, Wyverns, I had to learn how to track them all. So I did."
She nodded.
"You were in the army?"
He chuckled.
"Everyone was for a little while. Men, Women, maybe children. I'm not sure. My unit was a hundred strong, specialised for hunting and scouting. The occasional assassination. But we were friends. By the end anyway."
She tilted her head.
"You still see any of them?"
He gave a sad smile.
"They're all dead."
Her face went white.
"What happened?"
"We all survived the war at least. A few physical wounds but we all survived. But wounds up here?"
He tapped his head.
"They're a little different. They all killed themselves. Or each other. I watched one of my closest friends throw herself off the the ship we were supposed to come home on."
He felt a tear fall down his face and wiped it away.
"But anyway, that's how I know that this is a Dragons lair."
She stared at the floor.
"I'm.... I'm sorry."
He tilted his head.
"Why? Did you kill them?"
She didn't respond and he sighed.
"Thank you though. For apologising."
She nodded and looked down the tunnel.
"That orange glow. That's a fire."
He nodded.
"Probably goblins or something. Dragons are prideful creatures and like having things worship them. Co-dependent relationships between them and lesser creatures aren't unheard of."
She nodded and laughed.
"You're like a walking beastiary."
He shrugged.
"Well I did memorise one."
She groaned.
"You've got to be joking."
He shook his head.
"Not at all, I memorised it during the Angvang campaign."
"An entire beastiary?"
"Yes."
"Those things are thousands of pages long."
"I was in Angvang for a long time."
She chuckled.
"You are a strange one."
He nodded.
"Maybe."
"Thank you. For getting me out of there. Even for just a little while."
He tilted his head as she stared at the ground. He opened his mouth to ask what it was that she was running from but he stopped himself. She looked like someone with demons. And he knew exactly what that was like. He sighed to himself as she closed her eyes and leaned up against the cave wall.
"You're welcome."
She didn't respond but a small smile appeared on her face. He groaned as he moved towards the cave mouth. Apparently he was going to take first watch.