The Heart of the Stone (Voidweaver Book 1) by Richard Murray

Author:Richard Murray [Murray, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-06-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

Elena sat with her back against the ship's rail and watched the restless form of Avery. Sweat beaded his skin as a fever raged through him and he murmured as he slept, fear-filled words that she could not make out.

His armour, what little was left, was rent in several places, the leather sliced clean through leaving deep wounds beneath. The sword he had been waving as she came aboard, was pitted along its length as though he had been using it against stone, which was absurd.

“Anything?” Aelric asked, coming up alongside her.

“Nothing yet.”

He’d collapsed not long after he’d boarded, his wounds proving too much to bear once the adrenaline had worn off. His fear-filled words had struck deep though, and they had dressed his wounds and dropped anchor a short distance from the riverbank as they waited, hoping he would waken and tell them what had happened.

Wulf stood guard by the rail, shield up before him and eyes watchful as he stood guard. There was little to see other than the ruins of the village.

“Should we bury them?” the sailor asked, staring fearfully up at the village.

“No,” Wulf said. “There’s no priest to send them off to the afterlife, so their spirits will wander anyway. Best to leave their bodies where they lay, else they attach themselves to us.”

“Old wives’ nonsense,” Aelric said. “The spirits will move on without the need of a priest. A better question is when can we set sail?”

Elena kept her attention on the injured man and simply said, “when we know what we could be facing.”

“Pah! Whoever attacked this village is long since gone. Why would they head downriver to where the Duke has a garrison in Vaxby?”

She couldn’t answer that, but at the same time, she couldn’t quite shake the feeling that there was more than just a raid on a mining village. The sense of being watched as they travelled from Vaxby up the river towards Halfoss had been strong and she trusted her instincts.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Which is why we need answers.”

“Wounds on him, not likely he will wake,” the sailor said. “And anything’s better than waiting here for them that attacked the village to come back.”

“Aye, would be quicker if we had some healing,” Elena said, eyeing the merchant.

She knew the greedy bastard would have some form of aid on the boat. One who loved his hide as much as he did would take measure to ensure he didn’t die from any wound he might take. But, like all those who were afflicted by greed, he would keep them to himself in case he needed them at some point.

“You should have brought some with you then,” Aelric said, looking quickly away.

“Is on you to provide healing salves and the like,” Wulf snapped back, not taking his eyes off the banking. “Not us.”

The merchant just sniffed and turned away from the warrior. He narrowed his eyes as he stared down at the wounded man and Elena sensed a hesitancy in him.

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