to add a fresh set of bruises to his body. Aurelia still fell for the feints, however slow, but her blocks were already quicker and more precise. They fought until both collapsed against trees, their bodies soaked with sweat.
“You’re starting to get the hang of it,” Harruq said after their fifth session.
“Don’t flatter me,” Aurelia said, refastening one of her braids that had come loose. “You’re still going too easy.”
“If I move too fast you won’t learn anything,” Harruq insisted.
“How do you know?” she asked. “Do you train elves often?”
The half-orc grinned. “All the time. I’m known for it, in fact. Harruq Tun, trainer of elves, slayer of dragons, and man of the ladies.”
“Please.” She rolled her eyes. “Not this lady.”
“Never said you were one, elfie.”
Aurelia gave Harruq a brutal glare. “And why not?”
He picked at some grass and said nothing.
“Well?” she asked.
“Well what?” He looked up, his face blank and his eyes wide as if he hadn’t a clue.
“Why am I not a lady?” Aurelia asked.
“I don’t know,” Harruq said. “Did you cast a spell on yourself or something? Look like one to me.”
She stood and took up her staff. Instead of grabbing his swords, Harruq ducked behind a tree.
“Don’t hurt me,” he shouted. “Me be a stoopid half-orc that dunno what he saying!”
His face poked around the tree, his long brown hair falling down past his eyes. Much as she tried not to, Aurelia burst into laughter.
“Get over here,” she said.
A small silver dagger appeared in her hands. Harruq eyed it warily.
“What’s that for?” he asked.
“When was the last time you cut your hair?” Aurelia asked.
The half-orc shrugged, for some reason embarrassed. “I don’t know. I just hack it off with a sword if it ever gets to be a bother. Been awhile, though.”
“It shows.” The elf motioned to the grass before her. “Sit, and tell me another of your wonderful stories while I make you look less like an animal.”
Harruq grumbled, but when she frowned and crossed her arms the normal defiance in him melted away. He plopped down and sighed.
“Something must be wrong with me,” he said.
“Shut up and start telling me more about yourself.”
“Huh?”
“Just do it.”
So the half-orc shut up, paused, shrugged, and then began.
“Well, this one’s not a happy one, but it’s the only thing I can think of. It’s about a present Qurrah gave me. He’s a softie at times, and this is one of them times.”
Aurelia smoothed his hair in her fingers, frowned, and then sliced off a large chunk with the incredibly sharp dagger. Brown hair fell in clumps at Harruq’s feet.
“You’re going to leave me some up there, right?” he asked.
“Don’t make me cut your ears,” Aurelia warned.
Harruq began his story. He told her of a gift from his brother, a tiny sword Qurrah had whittled from bone. A bully had stolen it, but then Qurrah used a dead rat under his control to steal it back while they slept.
The haircut ended with the story. Dirty hair was strewn over the grass.
“Never had much,” Harruq said. “That bone sword was my only possession. Still had to hide it because of that bully. You know, it’s probably still there, buried underneath our home.”
“You and your brother had such rough beginnings,” Aurelia said, tucking away the dagger. “Very rough.”
Harruq shrugged. “Never seemed a big deal to us. Others were better off. A few were worse. We did what we had to live, just like everybody else.”
He ran a hand through his now shoulder-length hair, shaking away loose strands. It felt odd having so little hair on his head. Aurelia sat down on her legs, her hands folded upon her dress.
“Harruq, have you killed before?” she asked.
The half-orc opened his mouth and then closed it. A boy’s face flashed before his eyes.
You’re an orc, aren’t you?
“Yes,” he said at last. “I’ve killed.”
He eyed Aurelia, desperately wishing to know what she thought yet unable to figure out why he even cared.
“Tell me of the first time,” she said.
He shook his head. “Not today. Maybe some other session, if I feel I can.”
They both stood, Aurelia stepping away while Harruq stretched and popped his back.
“Goodbye Harruq,” she said.
The elf was almost past the trees when he spoke. “Hey, Aurelia?”
“Yes, Harruq?” she said, turning to face him.
“Have you ever killed?”
She paused, and then ever so slightly nodded. The two parted without another word.
W hat did you learn this time?” Dieredon asked as Aurelia arrived at their designated spot in the forest.
“Something is wrong,” she told him. “He’s kind-hearted, even goofy. He takes to his swordcraft with almost perfectionist precision. Everything else he does is for fun or survival.” Aurelia sighed and rubbed her hands across her face.
“It could all be an act,” Dieredon ventured. “Or just a part of his whole self. Perhaps you see the elf in him. There are multiple sides to all men, for only the insane and the dull contain just one facet to their being. It could be Harruq’s orcish side that pushes him to kill the children.”
She nodded at the possibility. “I will defer to your wisdom. The more time I spend with him, the more I wonder. What about you? What have you learned?”
Dieredon’s face darkened. “His brother worries me. I have seen him conversing at night with a strange man.”
“Strange?” she asked. “How so?”
He chuckled. “It may sound odd, but I can see his eyes. They burn like fire. He dresses himself in the black robes of a priest, and I cannot find his tracks come the morning. That doesn’t happen, Aurelia. If it moves, I can track it. And I can’t find a thing.”
“These two brothers are certainly a mystery,” Aurelia said.
“When will you meet this other brother?” Dieredon asked.
“Qurrah?” Aurelia shrugged. “When Harruq is ready for us to meet.”
“Very well. I will continue tracking them. There have been no murders for the past few days. It seems our warnings have worked, for now.”
Aurelia smiled. “Praise Celestia for that. May she watch over you, Dieredon.”
“And you as well, Aurelia Thyne,” he replied.
C lear your mind,” Velixar said to his apprentice. “Let the emptiness give you comfort.”
The wind blew, swirling cold through his ragged clothes. Velixar watched his apprentice take several deep breaths.
“For this spell to work, you must have a significant idea in mind,” he said. “Make it bleak and vile. If you are to darken someone’s dreams your own mind must be just as dark.”
Qurrah breathed out, his eyelids fluttering as a memory surfaced in his meditation.
“Send the image to me, my apprentice. Let me have the anger, the darkness, and the despair.”
Velixar lurched backward as the memory rammed into his mind. Qurrah was unpracticed, and his delivery brutal. Still, the vision did come, clouded and chaotic.
A gang of children slept on a stack of hay. They were filthy, scrawny, and sick with disease. A small rat crept near, its mouth covered with flecks of white foam. When close enough, it latched onto the hand of the biggest child,
