Snippet #1911861

Xandun Icehide

The waiting was starting to get to Xan. It had been a while since he had met the Larthos and sent her to retrieve the Mire Born. He had not expected it to take this long, so along with his boredom came a creeping agitation of failed expectations. He got up from his sitting spot and looked around the area for something to do. He would not disobey an order of the holder of his life debt, but he refused to sit idly forever. He spotted a small pond of to the side of the blacksmith’s building and walked over to it.

After staring into the water for a little while and concluding that the pond held no fish, he sat himself near the edge. He was disappointed that there were no fish, as he would have taken them for a meal. Instead, he now eyed the two goats that were huddled in the corner of the fenced off area across the pond from him. He clenched his axe. Goat was even better than fish. Before Xan could get up however, he heard the voice of the Larthos from before call out to him. He got up and turned around. The sight he saw then brought a big smile to his face.

Davkul Mire

As they touched down, Dav let the Larthos support him for a few moments as they took a few steps toward the fenced off area where his brother was. He heard get Xandun’s attention then explain the situation. He also noticed the smile that came to his brother’s face, though Dav was unsurprised at it. What truly drew his attention was the patchy green spots just beyond the fence. He quickly surged forward, breaking away from the Larthos’ support.

When he got to the fence, he fell to his knees and put his torso in between the wooden bars. As he moved his head through the fence, his hood fell back over his shoulders. Laying one hand on the ground, he pulled the other to his chest again and repeated his healing spell. The plant life around his hand began to quickly wither and die as he stripped it of it’s mana. When the wounds had fully healed, there was a large circle of dead plants with a radius of about 3 feet out from his hand.

“Healed now Mire Born?” Xandun’s deep voice asked just above him. Dav looked up to see his brother standing in front of him on the other side of the fence. “That’s a shame. To think I could have been rid of my life debt today.” Dav didn’t respond. He knew his brother was getting pleasure out of seeing him suffer, but he also didn’t care that much. He was just glad to have the endeavor he had just undergone.

“Come on now, Mire Born. I knew you were weak, if you can’t stand you might as well ask me to put you out of your misery.” Xan said down to his crouched brother with a large grin on his face. Dav ignored the comment and took a deep breath, then pulled himself out of the fence and stood up. He rotated his shoulder, then his torso, just to make sure everything was in working order. After he was satisfied, he pulled his hood back up over his head and composed himself.

He turned away from his brother, who frowned at Dav’s apparent recovery. “Thank you.” He said in a serious tone as he faced the Larthos. “You saved my li-” Only too late did Dav realize the mistake he had made.

“What?!” Dav’s brother ask with wild excitement. “What did you say?! She saved your life! You owe her life debt!” Xan let out a loud laugh, excited by the realization that his weakling brother was now chained by the same annoying bond that he was.

Damn, I should have thought that through… Dav regretted his comment in his mind as his brother continued to laugh.

“Well, go on!” His brother somehow formed words between his fits of loud laughter. “Tell the bird kin what she has acquired, I’m sure she doesn’t know our custom! Tell her what your honor demands!” Dav cringed at the word honor. He stood still for a moment.

“No.” He said flatly. “I owe no life debt.” His brother stopped laughing out of surprise. “My honor demands nothing. I am Mire Born. I have no honor.” Dav looked down as he said it, staring daggers at the ground. Caught in deep thought.

Xandun let out a loud yell and hurtled over the fence. “FALSE! DISTRUTH!” He shouted denials at his brothers statements, enraged at the thought that his brother might escape the chains he was bound to. Dav simply stood still, knowing his brother would not take physical action against the holder of his own life debt. Seeing no reaction from Dav, Xan focused his attention on the Larthos standing before the them. “You!” He pointed at the her. “You saved his life. The Mire Born owes you life debt! To be your servant until the debt is repaid! Tell him! Tell him that he must serve you!” Xan yelled expectantly, clinging to the thought that his brother might suffer as he did.