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Of Valor in Men

Chapter Eight: Old Wounds

It was like staring into the past, I remained frozen in disbelief, it couldn't be him, he was supposed to be dead, yet here he was, my dearest of childhood friends. Hamlet, though not how I remembered him, he was more weathered now, taller, older, burn scars lancing the right side of his face like claw marks. Suddenly the room seemed to sway under me, I found myself reaching out for support to steady myself, I was dreaming, I had to be.

“H-how…" I managed to choke out, my voice seemingly having left me somehow, and yet he simply smirked, turning on his heel.

“We've a lot to talk about Roddy" he said before disappearing off down a corridor, without a moment's hesitation did I move to pursue. It couldn't really be him could it, this had to be some perverse magic or trickery. I moved down the corridor after him slowly, hesitantly, heart pounding head throbbing, thoughts rattling around my head like a cup of dice. He slipped through a wooden door, leaving it ajar slightly, from inside there was steam and the smell of soap and hickory. I stood there for nearly an hour, poised with my hand a near inch from the wood of the door, wanting so badly to open it yet so hesitant at the same time. Eventually I forced myself to move forward, taking a deep breath and letting out a sigh as I stepped into the room,

The room was small, the word cosy came to mind as I looked around for my friend, I found him sitting at a writing desk, back turned to me.

“I know, I'm supposed to be dead right, you probably have a lot of questions" He said, just his voice alone froze me in place, it was so distinct to me and it brought back a flood of buried memories.

“Adler…" was all I could say, all I could force my mouth to form, the questions all pushed at my lips trying to get out but only trapping themselves.

“He did attack me yes… more than just attack, but he didn't bake me into a pie as he told people, though I'm inclined to believe I'd be rather tasty, heh" he said, jokingly though his tone hid pain, it was faint but it was there and it made my hands tremble.

“Don't joke about that...we all though…" I stuttered, voice quivering as I stepped forward, was it really him, with a bad joke like that it had to be, he always cracked poor jokes like that.

“Well, gotta keep that positive mental attitude up, can't dwell on the negatives so why not laugh about it" he said, half turning in his chair to face me, a wide buck toothed smile on his face, it was him, he would say that exact line; I remembered it. Without even thinking did I fall to a knee and snatch him in my arms. An embrace, one that I held as long as I could, I felt fur on my neck, brushing the whiskers of my beard.

“Eeep! Mph well this is happening" Hamlet said with a bit of a surprised squeak but I didn't care, I had my friend back, so much anguish, pain and mourning just washing away, collected over years and now it was all falling apart, dismantling. I would eventually release him, falling back and sitting on the floor, with a thump of sorts.

“I...I don't understand we all thought you died, the guard's they didn't find your body"? I said after a pause to compose myself, my head lifting to meet his eyes, well, singular eye as it were, his right seemed permanently closed, most likely empty to, yet his left was as vibrant an autumn gold as it always had been.

“Adler, he came in the night, drunk as a skunk, lantern in one hand, rum in the other spouting his nonsense as always. He set my families home alight...I... I was the only survivor, I crawled my way from the fire to the stream and I guess I passed out and floated downstream. When I came to I was in a cabin miles to the south right at the edge of Inland Sea. I was nursed back to health by a very kind man who lived alone in a strip of woods, it took me many years but...I came back, my testimony put Adler in jail, but he'd apparently already been admitted to an asylum, lost his mind as it were. Now I'm here" he explained, giving out a sigh at the end of it, his shoulders slacking some, voice wavering in places as he spoke.

The two of us sat there in silence for a good moment or two, I crossed my legs lost in thought; head hung. My whole life in Rigel had been forced, I should have stayed, if I had would things have been different. My silent thoughts would be broken by Hamlet as he slipped from the chair he sat upon, it was only then did I see his leg. More so his foot, the right hand one, it was missing; replaced by a unique looking prosthetic just above the ankle.

“How...extensive were the burns…" I asked quietly, the only other noise in the room; other than his wooden foot on the stone floor, was the flickering of the candles as Hamlet went about lighting them.

“I lost my foot, my eye, a lot of my fur, most of its grown back now but there are some patches the Vestals say will never grow back…" he said sullenly, looking down at the replacement limb as he moved to place logs in a small fireplace. I pulled myself up to offer my help, for a while nothing was said between us.

There was a room adjacent to this one, a private bath house of sorts, I helped him run water and heat it before I left him be to bath, not going any further then his dwellings however.

“Sawyer...he knows doesn't he… why didn't he tell me"? I asked from the main room, listening to the sounds of water splashing, I had begun to strip myself of the heavier plating of my armour, its weight becoming uncomfortable.

“He did, Yoel to before he…" Hamlet began to say, his voice trailing off quickly though, as children he and Yoel had been rather close friends.

“I know, Sawyer told me…" conversation felt odd, the two of us had been brothers in a sense, but we had grown up apart and now here we were, but we weren't at all the same anymore.

“I know why you're here Roderic, Yoel told me, he passed on the information he meant for you before he...ahem, I know where the man your looking for is, and my condolences for your child and wife" He said, I hung my head once more, pulling my breastplate off, setting it aside and clutching her locket, my daughters.

“Sawyer said someone called Baron would have the information I needed, I take it he meant you"? I asked, as I stared forlornly at the sole memento I possessed, the only physical memory of my daughter. In the background I would hear the sound of water dripping on stone, the ruffle of a towel.

“Technically I'm an Earl not a Baron" Hamlet responded, hobbling back into the room, towel tied around his waist; just looking at the scared nub at the end of his leg made something painful stir deep inside me.

“You own land"? I asked, sitting upon a long low bench, now absent of my heavy armour, bare with a simple cotton tunic and trousers. Watching as my friend hopped across the room to trifle through his own wardrobe for something to wear.

“That I do, before the man who nursed me to health died he gave me the deed of his land, I turned it into a small grove, a town of sorts, the first Velkenfolk colony in Dragonholme." he explained, replacing his towel with a simple tunic, what looked to be silk of some sort but it only covered his top half.

“I see the fire didn't reach anyplace important" I commented with a slight chuckle, I copped an eye roll as a response as well as a cheery smirk.

“Thankfully, I don't fancy living as a eunuch" he replied, rubbing his damaged eye, stretching out at the same time with a sleepy yawn, up here closer to the tundra the days were short, very short.

“Want me to leave, you seem tired"? I asked, standing, the difference in height between us was much staker now, the tips of his ears only just reached bottom of my collarbone, even absent a foot he nimbly leaped up onto the small bed neatly packed into one corner.

“I was just going to sit and read for a while, if you wish to stay you can but if not speak to Sawyer, he'll set up a room for you and your Vermian companion. This blizzard is going to stay for awhile so we're all stuck up here till it passes." he said, pulling the covers back and sliding under them, wriggling to get comfortable and using the pillow and bed head to sit back against. I wanted to spend time with my friend, even if it was spent in a small cluttered room and in silence, I felt better then I had in years knowing my friend was alive.

I would leave the room hours later when he had finally fallen asleep, closing the door of his room, my armour hefted over shoulder. I made my way down the hall to the next room over that was empty, baren save a bed and a lantern, I would stash my belongings here before leaving to explore and think.