The Long Road To... - 30. Stay With Me

“Stay with me.” Her eyes were soft and crinkled. “Stay with me.” The bench she patted looked hard. I wanted run and follow my brothers and my cousin. He had gotten his first sword. It was supposed to have been mine.

“Talon…” Her voice had lowered slightly.

I dragged myself back and plopped down on the ground, not on the wood. They still hadn’t given me my first weapon yet and I was a year older than him. He had made fun of me and called my family poor.

“Come now, it’s not that bad.” She smiled and handed me the clew so she could wind it in slowly. “Your old Bova will not be around forever you know.”

We sat in silence for a few moments. She wound extremely slowly. I fidgeted. She noticed.

“You must learn patience Talon.”

I knew better than to protest. She grabbed the brush and pulled at the fibers.

We sat and she hummed a little. I could hear the hollering and play somewhere close. They were having a great time and I was sitting here, bored to death with grandmother.

She glanced at me sideways.

“You’re doing fine. Now hold it up more level. There, see? Yes, good.”

She went back again to the brush. She seemed concentrated and relaxed at the same time. She had perfected her craft and had to put little to no effort into it anymore. She stopped humming any only smiled now. I looked at the soil. I couldn’t hear the voices. They had probably ran off into the pass.

“Come now, higher please.”

My hands had dropped low, I hadn’t noticed. I raised them again.

“Thank you.”

I sat and sat and sat.

“What are you thinking about little one?”

I didn’t look up. “Nothing,” I mumbled. I tried to think of something, anything to relive my boredom.

“You are trying too hard my little love,” she chuckled. “Think of something that would make you happy.

I thought about my brothers and cousin. Someday I would have a sword of my own. A beautiful one with the perfect weight and balance. I would never part with it. I would bring it to bed. I would use it and kill many enemies. I would have it engraved with fine runes, ones to show the totem of the Death Bones. I would be feared. I would be a man.

I heard shouts getting closer. I made to get up. Bova motioned me to sit. “We will know soon.” Some of my brothers were running past calling for my mother. A soft wry smile was forming on Bova’s lips.

My father, mother, and uncle came charging out of the house. From the other direction, my cousin was being held up and dragged by my half-brother Blade. Redness was splashed across my cousin. Blade held the bloody sword.

I heard my father yell my name. I looked at Bova and made to get up. She nodded. I jumped and ran to my gathered family. From the looks, my cousin had been stabbed albeit lightly.

“Where were you?!” My father yelled.

“He was with me,” Bova crossed between me and my father and did not say anything more. She stared up into his dark face.

My father turned and slapped my cousin. My uncle grabbed my father’s arm. My father shoved him hard and stalked off. My uncle stomped away in the other direction. Mother helped my cousin into the house. My other brothers disappeared and Blade was left behind.

Bova held her hand out to Blade. He handed the weapon to her. She handled it easily even though it had to be heavy.

“He tried to say it was Talon’s fault,” Blade cried. “He hates him.”

Bova nodded and guided us back to her weaving.

“He wanted to get you back for beating him up last season,” Blade gestured wildly recreating the fight. I had gotten a beating for that one. My cousin had hit me first and I had made sure he got the worse of it. Bova had washed and wrapped my bloodied knuckles then.

Bova, dropped the weapon on the grass, picked up her sewing and sat down.

“We ran ahead. He climbed a tree and was going to jump down and scare you when you caught up. When you didn’t come… he fell on it instead.”

Bova’s eyes twinkled and her lips carried an odd uneven smile.

“Blade! Go fetch water!” my mother called from the doorway. Blade got up and ran off toward the well. I was not sure that Bova even noticed him leave.

I held up the clew at the correct height for her and she began to hum a lullaby.

I did not fidget.

~ ~ ~

“Stay with me. Stay with me, here.”

I looked around us. This was not the place for me. I wanted to be free to have adventures and do noble deeds.

Blade nudged my arm. “Here you would be safe and serve a higher purpose.”

When he had decided to join the order, there had been disappointment. Becoming a devotee of the Earth Father was a noble and true calling, but that would be another man less to stand with our people when the time came. I would be one of those men.

“You have always been my favorite little brother.” He nudged my arm. “This life is good and will calm your restless spirit… in time.”

He always was my favorite brother too. We shared a lot in spite of our being a six years apart. He was the oldest of all of us, the firstborn of my father and his first wife. I was the firstborn of father’s second wife. As the oldest, we shared a bond different than the rest.

“We hope to go on pilgrimage to the place of creation. It will be an adventure of its own kind…”

It would be, but to what end. Blade had found his calling; I had not found mine. I still was searching, and as intriguing as the place of creation might be, it was not my final destination.

“Come. Let us break-fast together.”

I followed him to the hall.

The point of us coming here was to try to get Blade and others to come home. No one had changed their minds. I admired their devotion. Unfortunately, very few saw this devotion as a desired calling: admirable, yes; practical, no.

I had been sent because I was most likely to be able to “talk sense” into him. We needed him for the coming meeting of the tribes. We needed him to be a voice in the vote. Every man counted. I could almost feel the beating I would get when I returned without him.

We sat to eat our meager bread and water. This meal would not satisfy me. It was nothing more than a snack. He ate heartily. He was used to it. I required red meat. I wished I was with Lark and my friends outside in the courtyard. I tried not to make faces or let my stomach growl out loud.

“Talon,” he said softly, “I truly wish you would come with me.” He put his hand on my shoulder and smiled. “I think that you wish me back as much I wish you here.” He grinned wider.

I cracked a small smile and shrugged and nodded all at once.

He laughed. “When we meet again, you will tell me of your adventures in life and I will tell you of all I have learned and we both be wiser.”

His certainty in his faith was overwhelming to my lack of it. I could not persuade him. He knew it as he knew he would ultimately be unable to convince me to come with him. I was disappointed as I had been when he first joined. I was not all that surprised though.

As we walked down to the courtyard, we stole small glances at each other and grinned. From the shadows, at the archway, I could see the others I had come with, Lark waved at me. It looked as if I were the last one to fail on this mission. There were no new faces, no one had been convinced to return.

I felt Blade’s arms around me tightly. I hugged him as strongly as my youthful body could. I wanted to cry, but I would not allow it. He released me and held me at full arm’s length. His eyes were not all that clear. There was silence between us before he put his arm around my shoulder and led me forward into the sun.

I shook my head to Lark as we approached. He looked down and nodded before untying the horses. The others began mounting up.

“Tell Father that you tried your best. If he could read, I would send him a message. Lark?”

Lark nodded.

“He did his best and he was closer than he realized.” He turned and winked to me.

Lark and I mounted.

The others began to trot out the gates. I was about to kick when I felt Blade at my ankle. I turned and leaned toward him.

“Put a totem on Bova’s grave for we will you?” He handed me a small one. I nodded and put it in my sack. He smacked the rear of the horse and I lurched forward.

“What did he say?” Lark asked as I got up beside him.

“Nothing. To ride safely.”

I looked back across the field and saw him still standing in the gateway.

~ ~ ~

“Stay with me. Stay with me.”

I turned to Lark.

“When we get there, stay with me,” he whispered.

I was not sure why he was so nervous. We had been to Gatherings before. We had even gone to our very first one, as men, together.

After failing to convince Blade to come with us, we had stood and voted with the others to appoint a Leader of Chieftains. Our village had been outvoted and the new Leader was of a tribe from the southern valley. He had begun to build his new capital city there. It was almost complete.

“Don’t leave me alone with Colt. He is a blowhard.”

I laughed. I few others looked at us. I quieted down. This was supposed to be a more solemn Gathering. We were voting to go to war. Our allies called for our aid. Not that we were not already fighting the enemy. The vote itself was to stand behind our Leader. We would throw our lot behind him. We would make our ally’s enemies, our own. Our opponents would multiply.

I stood and waited and listened. Our vote was for war, no speeches should have been needed. I was bored. I looked around.

There were many here, many more that I could count or recognize. I looked among the faces. Some listened some did not. I caught sight of a man about my age down the way. He rocked on his feet. He was bored as well, but he showed it more than I. I saw someone lean to him and presumably tell him to cut it out. He did and looked around. He caught my gaze and turned red.

I smiled.

He grinned.

“When are they going to get to it?” Lark whispered into my ear.

I looked up at the outcropping, listened for a few moments, and shrugged.

I looked down and tried to find the rocking man again. I did not see him. Someone had moved between us.

There was loud applause.

I looked up to see what could only be the leader of our allies on the rock next to our own leader. I was shocked. He had come. He had been allowed to come to our own Gathering. He was a hulking figure with an odd coloring to his skin. He resonated tremendous booming power in his words through his thick accent while speaking the common tongue.

I was enthralled. I think most of us were. I listened to it all. Every reason, every slight, every cause, every outcome. Then silence.

Wild applause followed.

He nodded and stood back while our Leader came forward to call for the vote.

We yelled our assent to make war together.

The frenzy became nearly overwhelming when our leader handed our symbolic war totem to our guest and made him the most powerful man in the world.

He did a most unique thing. He took the totem firmly and came forward, in front of our leader, and bowed deeply to us.

To Us.

The roar was deafening.

When we finally began to break into our tribal groups to eat and drink, I felt Lark’s hand on my arm.

“Wow!” Was all he said.

I nodded and pulled him with me to the pasture where we had set our tents. I was glad he and I had come together. He was excellent company and fun to drink with. He had been my best friend for years now. I could not imagine going to war without him.

We found food, drink, and an open fire pit. We talked. Lark and Colt had been just as spellbound as I. We were excited. We were going to war with honorable friends.

Others flopped down around us. Music played from somewhere close by. The serious celebration had begun. Before long we had finished our food and our first skin of beer.

“Someone is trying to get your attention,” Colt said loudly.

I looked past the fire. The man who had been rocking on his feet at the meeting waved. Without thought, I waved back and immediately became self-conscious. I checked around me. Some were talking, others sleeping. Lark frowned deeply. The man was not of our tribe, he was one of us, but not one of us.

The man crossed over and squeezed in next to the fire sitting on my other side opposite Lark.

“I saw you out there before.” He thumbed back toward the meeting place.

In just those few words, his voice was soothing, warm, and yet, intriguing.

I nodded, he smiled and extended his hand.

“My name is Thorn.”

~ ~ ~ 

“Stay with me, stay with me,” Colt laughed.

He was drunk already. It was not that unusual for him, but this time it was frustrating. At least the small inn was loud for the gambling on the other end.

“Sit. Have a drink it’s on me.”

I sat down. I had tried to talk to him yesterday, when he was sober, but no luck. Today, drunk, would probably be no better. I sat in silence for a few moments. We had argued about this all the day before. I was loath to rehash. I sat and stared at the scars on his arm. The last skirmish had be rough on him. I looked at my own arm; on both of us.

“I don’t understand why you want to travel way out there again,” he huffed into his drink.

“The plains, there is nothing out there. They are so barren.”

There was no way to explain it to him, even if I had wanted to. It was a long trip to meet up with Thorn again. I enjoyed his company more than anyone else. Thorn had wanted to come here, but I had felt that was not the best idea. “Too dangerous.” I had told him. “You do it enough!” He quipped back.

“Besides, you just got back from Wild Crossing. You’ll miss Lark again. He will me mad.” He gulped at length.

He was right. Lark would be mad. I sighed. Lark was already mad. We saw less and less of each other. We had been inseparable for a time. I felt guilt about it. Knowing I wouldn’t see him on this return trip was a relief.

“Why don’t you wait a day and then the three of us can run out that way, get Thorn and go out to Arrowpoint to catch news. I haven’t been there in a long time.”

An adventure together might be the thing. The four of us together. Arrowpoint and adventure. Maybe the tundras. Or the Basin of Beasts. We could honorably fight the wars anywhere.

I slowly nodded.

~ ~ ~

“Stay with me… Stay with me…” I breathed more than spoke.

Lark lay against my arm. I peered into his eyes. There was glaze and lack of focus, but there was recognition. He slowly smiled for a moment before letting his lips go slack again. I looked around quickly and saw no one. I pulled him closer and was careful when I rested his head on my shoulder. He moaned and I twisted to see his face.

He was falling asleep again. Blood ran all over us, his blood.

“Lark, try. Please.”

His breathing was regular. I wrapped my free arm around him. Where was everyone?!

“Can you hear me?”

I couldn’t tell if it were my imagination or wishful thinking or reality when I felt him gently nod.

“Stay with me.”

He moved again.

“I’m so sorry Lark.”

I was not one for words. I had surprised myself in uttering those few in the fashion that I had. I did not know if he had even heard the meaning or what I really should have said. I was so sorry for leaving him behind, leaving my best friend behind all those years ago. Now look at us. The ass end of a battle together was leaving me behind.

The breeze picked up. The trees rustled above. The land around me seemed cold and indifferent. This was not the place to speak in such a warm and feeling way.

I listened and felt him against me. He had fallen asleep. My face reddened with frustration. I did not know if he had heard me at all. He knew my meaning surely.

I wanted to touch the ground, bury my hand in the soil and be comforted by the Earth Father. I was too busy holding him and not letting go.