I'm sorry if I said anything inappropriate, I'm not used to company. Thank you for the food and clothes," he said as humbly as he could, and stood up. "I'll go see my horse."
He picked up his hammer from the ground and left. He whistled softly outside. Burinsfel came running up. Brax smiled and patted his best friend. He looked content.
He settled under the nearest tree and looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful, clear night.
He remembered all those victorious battles, after which he had lain on the battlefield and watched the stars. It seemed so long ago.
He began to examine his hammer again. What did the woman mean by everyone having more than one or two things? Of course he had more than two things. He had his horse, his equipment, his weapon. Did she mean this, or something more? Did she mean friends, family? He had no family left, and all his real friends were dead. All he had were memories.
"If you think this is funny," a voice above him said, "it's not. And not that you're going to drag me over with that hammer. I could defend myself."
Brax flinched and jumped to his feet.
"Lina?" he asked, looking around inquisitively.
"Hmm, I never would have thought that a few simple words could scare such a great warrior," Lina said, suppressing a smile.
"Sorry if I said something in there that I shouldn't have," he muttered apologetically. "I'd better go."
He turned on his feet, slung the hammer over his back, and prepared to leave.
Lina hesitated for a moment. Then she aimed and threw a small twig she'd plucked from the branch of the tree she was sitting on at Brax's head. She laughed barely audibly when the twig hit its intended target.
Brax, however, just shook his head and continued walking. Still, her childish playfulness amused him. He led his horse to the tiny stable behind the house. He put the saddle down next to him and began to groom him. He hadn't experienced anything like this in a long time and he certainly deserved it.
"We've been on the road a long time, haven't we?" he smiled at the horse and calmly continued to groom him. Here and there
he came across a scar on the animal's skin.
"And we've been through a lot too," he lowered his head at the thought that his horse might have even more scars than he did, and he was blessed to have them.
Lina jumped down from the tree and sighed. Then she ran along the path leading between several trees to a small meadow. She looked around for a moment and then felt a nudge on her back.
She smiled and turned: "You thought I'd forgotten about you, didn't you, Rillan?"
A beautiful bay horse stood before her, its coat shining even in the moonlight. He nudged her head lightly again and whinnied softly.
"Come on," she said, stroking his neck. "You'll have company today."
In a moment she was entering the stable. She glanced at Brax, who was grooming his horse.
She tied Rillan beside him and said, "I hope Burinsfel won't mind Rillan's company."
"And before that…" she continued, stroking the horse's back, "you don't have to apologize. You didn't say anything that deserves an apology. I just… I don't understand why you like this. Even if you probably didn't do anything else, it's not the only thing you can do. Everyone who… does this… ends up the same way," she added, turning to leave.
"It's the only thing I can do," he replied. "Maybe you're right, maybe I enjoy it. It wasn't like that before. But life on the battlefield changes you. Whether you like it or not, people around you die and you chase revenge. It fills you, it consumes you, and when you get it, there's nothing left." He
put down his brushes and began to clean his saddle.
"The more friends you have, the more you see die, and the only way to deal with it is to pay the debt in blood, because you don't know any other way. I don't expect you to understand."
The leather of the saddle was already quite blackened in places and was starting to tear. He should probably get a new one.
"I don't want to die and that's the only reason I keep fighting and fighting, because I don't know anything else. All the stories about victorious battles sound like huge adventures, but the reality is different. There are those who are fighting for something more than themselves. They are fighting for the safety of their families and loved ones, for the future of their children. And then there are those like me who have nothing to lose and nowhere to go. When dreams die and there is no life except on the battlefield, life becomes nothing but waiting for death. We mercenaries understand this. Most of us have come to terms with it. We have a motto: We live and die by the sword, everything in between is just waiting."
His words might have sounded harsh, but he said them calmly. He was balanced and at peace. He had long since learned his place in the world. Like many, he once dreamed of fame, of having heroic songs written about him. But when all his friends died, he learned the truth.
"You sound like my father," Lina said quietly, turning around.
"He saw his friends die because he only had them on the battlefield. He rushed into battle because he didn't know anything else to begin with. As soon as he married my mother, he went off to battle. When he returned, I was already born. He stayed home for a few years and we were a happy family. Father understood that it was possible to live differently and with something other than just blood. And then..." the girl looked somewhere behind Brax's back, "one of his friends stopped here and begged him to come with him and help him in some battle that was raging far away. He was one of father's best friends, if not the best of them all. Father decided to go and help him. He promised me and my mother that this would be the last battle and he would never go to another one."
Lina smiled sadly: "And he kept his promise. It was his last battle... But he never returned from it. So yes... I understand what you're talking about, but I know you don't understand that there's no other way to live. Hatred breeds hatred, and even if you killed everyone who hurt you or your friends, believe me, you wouldn't be happier."
Brax put down the cleaned saddle and approached Lina.
"In battle, bonds are formed between people who protect each other. True character is revealed. Your father was a happy man. He knew real life, broke the curse."
He stepped a little closer and looked Lina in the eyes.
"I'm sorry he didn't come back, but I'm sure he's still watching over you from somewhere, smiling at you."
He hesitated, but finally tried to hug Lina.
The girl looked at him in shock and took a step back. But Rillan side-stepped her, so she ended up on Brax's chest. She lifted her head to him and looked into his eyes. She felt heat flood her cheeks and her heart begin to beat faster.
Even though she didn't know him, she knew he wasn't just a killing machine. Deep down, deep inside, she felt something else. And when she looked into his eyes, whose expression changed like the weather, but right now they were gentle and calm, she was even more certain of it.
He held her tightly in his arms. During their short conversation, so many memories came flooding back to him. As if he had before his eyes all those friends he had fought with, celebrated victories with mead, and then watched die. Some of them had died right before his eyes, others he had simply learned after the battle that they had not survived. He had always taken it for granted until he was left completely alone.
A single tear of pain ran down his face.
"Sorry," he whispered softly to Lina, released her, and quickly left.
What the hell had he done a moment ago? This was not normal, this was simply not him. The great mercenary Brax, who had killed almost fifty orcs in the Battle of Koltaich, the one who had fought the entire battle in the Alguil Strait with an arrow in his shoulder. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to be back in the fight. Doing what he did best. There was no time to think in battle, one focused only on survival.
He locked himself in the room that Lorina had provided him and immediately lay down on the bed.
In the morning he would go to the mayor, then start chasing the bandits and everything would be as before. It would be just him, the hammer and Burinsfel again.
He tossed and turned for a long time, but he couldn't fall asleep. First of all, he thought about Lina, what she had to go through, and also the bed was soft and that was a problem. He had slept on the hard ground wrapped in a few blankets for almost his entire life. So he finally sat down on the floor, leaned his back against the wall and hugged his hammer with his arms. This is how he finally managed to fall asleep - uncomfortably, as always.
Lina stood there for a few seconds as if carved from stone. She couldn't move and just stared at the wall of the stable, but she didn't notice it at all. All sorts of thoughts were racing through her head. She thought of her father, of how he had held her as a child, she could clearly recall his face. But then it changed to Brax's, and she saw his eyes and felt his grip. She shook her head to recover.
She turned to Rillan, who was calmly eating hay, oblivious to her.
"You rascal," she whispered in his ear.
But she couldn't help but smile.
She stayed in the stable for a few more minutes, stroking the horse's back and mane.
"Rest. We're going on a long journey tomorrow."
Rillan nodded his head several times at that.
Lina wanted to turn and walk out of the stable. But suddenly she stopped and turned to Burinsfel. She slowly walked over to him and carefully raised her hand to his forehead. The horse jerked its head, but he let her touch it. Lina ran her hand over his neck several times, her eyes following the scars on his body.
With a horse looking like this, she wondered what his master must be like.
"What do you think? Will your master ever come to his senses?" Burinsfel asked.
The horse neighed and jerked its head to the side.
Lina smiled sadly and left the stable. As she walked around the house, it occurred to her to look into the room that had belonged to her grandfather and where Brax was now sleeping. She peered out the window, trying to make out the outlines of things inside. She raised her eyebrows in confusion when she saw the bed empty. Then her eyes caught a glimpse of a leg that was in the moonlight.
She sighed again and shook her head as she realized that Brax had decided to sleep on the floor. Then she went into the house.
Her mother was already lying down on the bed in the next room.
"Good night, mother," Lina said.
"Good night, child," she replied. "Haven't you changed your mind? Do you want to go tomorrow?" she asked.
"No, I'll go. I'll manage like always," she replied and smiled. "Will Grandpa come back tomorrow?" she asked.
"Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow," Lorina replied, shaking the blanket. "How did you come across that boy?" she asked, looking at her daughter curiously.
Lina laughed: "Well, I slapped him because I thought he was spying on me when I was in the lake."
Lorina rolled her eyes.
"And then I can wonder who the dog is after," she shook her head.
Lina laughed again and went up the stairs to her small room, which only had a bed, a table, a chair and a chest. It still looked cozy.
She changed her clothes and combed her hair. She was horrified when it was so difficult. She must have looked as if birds had nested in her hair, she sighed.
Then she lay down on the bed and fell asleep in a moment with a smile. This was all while remembering how Brax flew into the lake.