Gertha wandered haphazardly around the camp, nearly losing her leg down the firepit hole before I caught her under the arm. She turned to me with a vacant look in her eyes, and she raised a hand tenderly to my face. Her marks of exhaustion and some of the touch of age had faded from her face. She looked better than I’d ever seen her, truthfully, but she wasn’t herself.

  “Rolvh…my sweet boy.” She smiled wistfully.

  “It’s Tullen, Gertha, I think you need a sit-down.” I gestured toward the patch of grass she had slept on and eased her down to the floor gently. She sighed and stared into the fire. It was a beautiful day, despite Eggs greedily feasting on the flesh of Brenyl’s neck, and the Creep still kneeling in place in front of where Gertha had been standing while using her strange abilities. The Creep’s flesh seemed to be slowly dissolving away as more phantom bite marks bloomed on free patches of skin, and I shuddered to watch it. Whatever Gertha channelled, it was heavy and it was powered by something dark. I was relieved we were aligned.

  She seemed so frail and confused in this moment, however. I couldn’t help but feel oddly protective of her. She’d have perhaps been close to my mother in age, although I do not know how old my mother was, for she died before I could count, and my father could not tell me because he died next to her, his blood mingling with hers. Just as it had inside me.

  I carried a reminder of him wherever I went. Fal Barraz means Son of Barraz after all, despite not knowing him well, I was proud to wear a piece of him pinned to my soul.

  Gertha was not my mother, but she was no less deserving of my aid, especially as she had aided me so much already. Allies, friends, even, were in short supply for one such as me, and I would not turn one away for no good reason. She just sat there, murmuring to herself as the Creep’s legs started being consumed by the unseen force. Her powers were strange, unnatural; they seemed to leave her incapable of doing anything else most of the time. It put her at risk, which meant it put me and Eggs at risk, too.

  “Gertha, snap out of it,” I said, but she just rocked back and forth. The Creep continued dissolving.

  “Gertha!”

  “Not now, Rolvh,” she wagged her finger at me, before going back to murmuring.

  It seemed whatever she had done to the Creep was still taking effect. I wondered if that was the reason why she was in this strange state. We couldn’t stay here for long; these two could have been advance scouts, and I did not want to hang around for whatever scum passed for their allies.

  I resolved to kill whatever was left of the Creep, he was worse than dead anyway, and maybe it would break whatever had fallen over Gertha. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.

  I stood, drawing my sword and walked to the pile of meat, sinew and bone that passed for the Creep’s somehow still living body. I could tell because I watched his heart beat with a tranquility that disturbed me. I drew my blade, positioning the tip behind the as of yet untouched heart.

  It pulsed as another chunk of him faded into nothing from the small of his back.

  The already familiar chirrup next to me told me that Eggs had finished with their meal.

  I looked down at my golden-eyed Wyvern as our gazes locked, Eggs' frill flattened against their head and neck, giving them the appearance of a scaled seal. Eggs' body leaned toward the Creep, their eyes glancing to the body, then to me.

  “No. Not this one, Eggs.”

  Eggs extended a wing toward the body, their claw getting too close to the flesh for my comfort. Not knowing how Gertha’s powers worked, I feared whatever afflicted the Creep would affect Eggs.

  “NO!” I shouted, and I hated myself when Eggs flinched from my outburst, cowering right there and shielding their face with their leathery wings. I told myself it was for their own good. Frustrated, I drove my blade through the Creep’s heart.

  The ruined corpse had the decency to fall dead, spattering gobbets of meat and blood over the ground.

  Gertha gasped in shock, her breath sounding like a death rattle. I ran to her side, kneeling as I grabbed her hand and searched her body for signs of injury. She just shivered before her eyes found mine. She was as skittish as a fawn near a hunting party.

  “T-Tullen, yo-you f-found me,” her voice was shaky, and I could see tears in her eyes.

  “It’s over now, you’re good. I got you.” I said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  “I g-got lost. It wo-wouldn’t stop. I w-went back to…to…to,” she let out a silent wail until her voice cracked, and then came the sobs. I didn’t know what to do, so I just knelt there as she cried. Her breathing was ragged, like her lungs were snatching dregs of air from a parched sky. I’d seen this before.

  I’d had this before.

  Some soldiers first get it after their first encounter with a Dragon or Wyrm. I had it when I was found next to the bodies of my parents. By Peevan, the man who forged me.

  Gertha was hyperventilating now. Eggs had bound to her side and was watching her, motionless, making no sound.

  “Gertha,” I said, deliberately, calmly.

  She looked at me, with a trembling lip, as I opened a part of myself to another I had not done for many years.

  “Feel your root, your feet on the ground. For they are your base.” I intoned.

  She looked between her feet, tears streaming from her face as she struggled to catch her breath.

  “Know your movement, your legs and your hips. For they are your evasion.”

  Her breath catching, but at a half beat slower than before, Gertha wiped her eyes, then her nose with her sleeve.

  “Move your defence and attack, your arms and your hands. For they are your salvation.”

  Gertha moved her arms and wiggled her fingers, her eyes seeming to focus, looking more like herself.

  “Be at one with your courage and strategy, your heart and your mind. For they are your future.”

  She looked at me with a small, sad smile on her face.

  “Unite them all within yourself, your base, evasion, salvation and future. For you are the Steelweave, and the Steelweave is you.” I whispered this last part, the forgotten mantra I felt unworthy to even speak. Gertha sniffed, placing her hands on her knees, rubbing them slightly while looking up in the sky, taking deep, slow breaths. I was glad; it seemed the worst of whatever afflicted her was easing.

  “Thank you, Tullen. I can think, I can breathe again.” She squeezed my hand, which I realised was still on her shoulder, and I pulled it back gently.

  “I’m just glad you’re ok. After whatever you did to that Creep, I feared you might be lost.” I said, gesturing at the body.

  “My power consumed by nature, I was afraid. I… over-exerted.” Her cheeks coloured.

  “You acted rather than freezing. That kept you alive and removed an opponent for me.” I stated.

  “Yes, well. Thank goodness you figured out that breaking the bond I lashed us together with would bring me out of it.” She stood, dusting her legs off and stopping to look at Eggs, who was still staring at her with curiosity.

  “Who is Rolvh, Gertha? You called me by that name.”

  Gertha’s face fell for the barest hint of a moment before fixing into her usual friendly expression.

  “An old friend of mine, Tullen, you remind me of him a little. I was very confused.” She walked past me, squeezing me on the shoulder before heading to search the pockets of Benryl’s ruined corpse.

  I watched her pick through his pockets, retrieving some arrowheads and coin clippings. I thought of how her hands were like carrion birds in a way during that moment, and I also wondered why she had just lied to me. Mummer's balls, at least lie well to me. A poorly told lie is often more insulting than the truth.

  “The Steelweave Tullen, is that a Smallgod of your particular…fraternity?” She asked.

  I shifted uncomfortably. She was uninitiated, and I had shared too much already.

  “It is…a concept.” I offered. It was not the whole truth, but it was a truth. Which was more than she’d just given me.

  “Interesting. Still, its effect on me cannot be denied. I’m grateful to it if it could receive such a thing. Is that possible?”

  “Maybe…Gertha, we should get moving.” I was anxious to leave this place. Only bad things can come from staying near the dead.

  “Yes. I agree. Nothing good comes from being near the dead.” She said.

  Smart lady.

  “We should head to the Arcuzane, find any lore we can about this one.” I gestured at Eggs, who chirruped and flew to my arm, their claws digging into my bracer. I was pulled off balance by the movement before standing with my legs wider and shoulders braced.

  Gertha barked a laugh; she seemed more like her in that moment.

  “Just so! We need to head North West if we’re to get close to The Hold of the Arcuzane. Follow me!” She said, before retrieving the small bag she usually kept under her arm and gesturing out into the forest once more.

  I shifted Eggs to my shoulder, then retrieved the rest of my gear, which was slower than usual. It’s awkward to move with a creature of myth and legend clinging to your shoulder while preening your hair.

  But it’s worth it. I enjoyed the fussing, Eggs had clearly forgiven me and a tension in my heart I didn't know I had, eased.

  I followed Gertha into the forest, and we began our trek.