Haven Magic by B. V. Larson

Author:B. V. Larson [Larson, B. V.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Genre Fiction, Arthurian, Superhero, Fantasy, Literature & Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Epic, Magic & Wizards, Paranormal, Horror, Dark Fantasy, Mythology & Folk Tales, Fairy Tales, Paranormal & Urban, Sword & Sorcery
Amazon: B00EO46J2Q
Published: 2010-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Merlings

In the light of morning, he awoke, shivering. The tree roots had cruelly dug their way into his back and ribs, causing a dozen sharp aches and cramps. He eyed the marshlands around himself blearily, realizing that for perhaps the first time in his life he was truly and utterly lost.

Then he noted the only source of warmth that touched him. He looked down upon Telyn, asleep upon his shoulder, and smiled. Although the weight of her slightly discomforted him and the roots that dug into his back from behind made him want to stretch, he did not move. This was a moment to dream of. Telyn slept on his shoulder, touching him. A thrill of pride and contentment and protectiveness shot through him.

The sleep had done him a world of good. He lay back and breathed deeply of the morning air. It stank, but he didn’t care. Out on his own like this, with Telyn, he felt more like a man than he ever had. It was exciting and daunting, all at the same time.

Soon, he could stand the pinching of his shoulder no longer. To relieve it, he rolled it slightly under her weight. To his disappointment she awakened almost instantly. She made a small sleep-sound that made him smile again, then she blinked at the world. She yawned and it seemed to him that even her yawn was attractive somehow.

“Morning,” he said quietly.

“We’ve slept for hours!” she exclaimed, staggering up.

Brand winced at the pain in his shoulder and back, but tried not to let on. “Yes, we should be moving.”

“You should have awakened me, Brand,” she scolded, picking up her things. She emptied out her knapsack, which she still had after all this time, and handed it to him.

“What’s this?”

“Put the axe in it.”

“Right,” said Brand, thinking of the axe for the first time. He felt a pang of worry, but quickly found it leaning against the tree beside him. “I’ll look like Gudrin’s over-grown son with this thing moving about like a full game-bag on my back.”

The axe barely fit into the knapsack, and Brand worried that its razor-edged blades would cut through the leather. The handle poked out of the top so that there was no way to hide it.

“Well, people are going to know what you have,” said Telyn, putting her things into various pockets of her muddy cloak and tunic. “But at least there is less chance of you getting bewitched again by accident.”

“Yes. Now if I wield the axe, there will be no question that it was my choice to do so.”

Telyn glanced at him sharply. She nodded. “Let us hope so.”

After making a poor breakfast of the odds and ends from Telyn’s tunic and a few swallows from Brand’s waterskin, they set off in the direction of the rising sun. Soon, they came upon signs of merlings: a woven mesh of reeds designed to trap and drown six-legged muckfish, a clutch of sucked-dry bird’s eggs and last a totem made of a skull.

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